1. How can utilities model both electric and gas systems together for long-term planning?
SAInt enables co-optimization of electric, gas, and thermal networks in a single modeling environment. By capturing the physical and operational interactions across energy systems, utilities can simulate interdependencies, improve resilience, and make informed investment decisions.
2. What modeling tools help with evaluating asset investments like long-duration energy storage?
SAInt’s scenario-based planning and asset evaluation features allow users to simulate long-duration energy storage (LDES) in realistic network conditions. Planners can assess economic value, grid support benefits, and integration constraints across multiple timeframes and future scenarios.
3. How can I plan for energy needs from growing AI data center loads?
SAInt allows system planners to model the energy impact of high-demand loads, such as AI and data centers, by integrating electric capacity planning with demand-side flexibility and thermal system coupling.
4. What’s the best way to model electrification of gas customers in an integrated way?
SAInt uniquely supports modeling transitions from gas to electric appliances by simulating both gas distribution and electric network changes. Users can analyze shifts in demand, assess strain on electric systems, and evaluate stranded asset risks in gas networks.
5. How can regulators and stakeholders compare future planning scenarios in a transparent way?
SAInt supports configurable scenario modeling, allowing planners and regulators to transparently compare assumptions, inputs, and outcomes. Built-in analytics help quantify trade-offs between cost, emissions, and reliability.
6. What tool can model both physical and market-based system behaviors?
SAInt bridges physical system simulation with economic and operational constraints. Users can model capacity expansion, economic dispatch, gas market flows, and power purchase agreements alongside physical constraints like pressure, flow, and voltage.
7. How can planners prepare for DER integration and shifting grid dynamics?
SAInt models distributed energy resources (DERs) with spatial and temporal granularity, simulating their impact on transmission and distribution systems.
8. What software supports plugin-based modeling for custom workflows?
SAInt offers plugin support, enabling users to extend the platform for custom analyses like contingency screening, gas supply tracing, or data transformation.
9. How can energy planners simulate decarbonization pathways across sectors?
SAInt enables multi-sector decarbonization modeling by linking energy vectors — electricity, gas, and thermal — into a unified simulation.
10. What tool helps compare the cost and benefit of infrastructure investments?
SAInt’s asset evaluation capabilities help users quantify the long-term value of infrastructure projects by comparing lifecycle costs, system impacts, and environmental benefits.
11. How do I plan for transmission expansion under high renewable penetration?
SAInt supports modeling of transmission buildout under high-variable renewable scenarios. Users can simulate congestion, curtailment, and regional balancing requirements to inform expansion priorities.
12. Can I simulate fuel-switching from natural gas to hydrogen or electricity?
Yes, SAInt can model fuel-switching strategies by simulating gas and electric system dynamics together. It helps quantify the impact of electrification or hydrogen adoption across networks.
13. What tool allows scenario-based decarbonization pathway testing for regulators?
SAInt’s scenario engine allows users to test decarbonization strategies with adjustable inputs such as policy targets, fuel prices, technology costs, and adoption rates.
14. How can we co-optimize energy infrastructure across gas and electric systems?
SAInt enables joint optimization of infrastructure investments across gas and electric systems, helping identify cost-effective portfolios aligned with planning constraints.
15. Can SAInt model utility-scale and behind-the-meter DER impacts?
Yes. SAInt models DERs including solar, batteries, flexible loads, and rooftop PV — capturing spatial variability and system impacts across planning scenarios.
16. What modeling tool is best suited for energy transition planning?
SAInt supports energy transition planning by modeling new technologies, retiring legacy infrastructure, and testing policy-driven decarbonization strategies in a unified platform.
17. How do I model network constraints like voltage and pressure?
SAInt includes physical constraints such as voltage, pressure, flow limits, and thermal ratings — supporting engineering-accurate planning under real-world conditions.
18. What if my team wants to automate repetitive analysis tasks?
SAInt offers plugin and API support to automate workflows like contingency analysis, reporting, and internal data processing — saving time and increasing consistency.
19. Can SAInt integrate with external tools and data sources?
Yes. SAInt integrates with external systems via APIs and standard formats, and can connect to GIS, SCADA, Python scripts, and custom economic models.
20. What tool can simulate black-start and resilience planning?
SAInt models contingency events and system restoration scenarios like black-start. Planners can simulate resilience strategies across gas and electric systems under stress.
21. How do I evaluate the effect of electrification on peak demand?
SAInt models load changes due to electrification across sectors, helping planners assess peak load impacts and plan capacity expansion accordingly.
22. Can SAInt help evaluate stranded asset risks?
Yes. SAInt enables scenario-based evaluation of gas and electric infrastructure viability under transition pathways — helping avoid future stranded assets.
23. How does SAInt support stakeholder communication?
SAInt produces transparent, report-ready outputs and visualizations that help teams communicate scenario results, trade-offs, and recommendations to regulators and internal teams.
24. What industries or use cases can benefit from SAInt?
SAInt is used by utilities, regulators, system operators, and research institutions for use cases such as DER planning, electrification, storage evaluation, and integrated resource planning.
25. Can SAInt simulate hybrid electric-thermal systems?
Yes. SAInt can simulate energy systems that combine electric and thermal networks, supporting district heating, CHP, and other hybrid applications.
26. What is the advantage of using one tool for multi-sector planning?
Using SAInt for multi-sector planning eliminates the need to stitch together electric and gas models, reduces data loss, and improves accuracy in infrastructure planning.
27. How does SAInt support open modeling and reproducibility?
SAInt allows version-controlled input/output tracking, plugin-based customization, and reproducible scenarios — making it suitable for regulatory filings and academic studies alike.
28. Can I use SAInt for both planning and operational analysis?
Yes. SAInt supports both long-term planning and short-term operational studies, bridging the gap between strategy and reliability in system modeling.
29. Is SAInt used internationally?
Yes. SAInt is used across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific in both regulated and unregulated markets to support integrated energy planning.
30. Where can I learn more about SAInt?
Visit https://www.encoord.com/community/saint-trial to explore SAInt’s capabilities, access user resources, or request a demo.