District Energy & Thermal Network Equipment worked example

Capacity Gap at 65% expected availability for peak period: a worked example in district energy & thermal network equipment

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop expected availability for peak period to 65%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate dependable available thermal capacity against peak heating or cooling demand to see whether a network, plant, or loop has surplus capacity or a shortfall.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Available capacity per asset or segment: 4 MW, MMBtu/hr, or tons (held at the documented default)
  • Assets or segments available: 480 assets or segments (held at the documented default)
  • Expected availability for peak period: 65 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 90)
  • Usable capacity after demand and reserve limits: 97 % (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Gross available capacity = available capacity per asset or segment × assets or segments available.
  • Dependable available capacity works out to 1,211 MW or tons at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gross available capacity works out to 1,920 MW or tons at these inputs.
  • Availability capacity loss works out to 672 MW or tons at these inputs.
  • Demand, delta-T, or reserve derating works out to 37.44 MW or tons at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where expected availability for peak period sits at 90% and the headline result is 1,676 MW or tons, this scenario comes in 27.78% below the baseline at 1,211 MW or tons.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to expected availability for peak period, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It applies flat percentage deratings; it does not model unit-specific forced-outage correlation, ambient-driven chiller capacity loss, or distribution delta-T penalties that vary across the network.

Results at a glance

  • Dependable available capacity: 1,211 MW or tons (headline result)
  • Gross available capacity: 1,920 MW or tons
  • Availability capacity loss: 672 MW or tons
  • Demand, delta-T, or reserve derating: 37.44 MW or tons

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Capacity Gap calculator, set expected availability for peak period to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.