The financial planning module within WEAP provides a method for calculating costs and benefits associated with scenarios. Fixed and variable costs and fixed and variable benefits can be associated with each item in a WEAP schematic, including: reservoirs, transmission links, rivers, diversions, return links, groundwater supplies, other supplies, hydroelectric plants, wastewater treatment plants, and demand nodes. In addition, capital cost, fixed operating cost and benefits can be entered for the entire system. Note that WEAP's costing calculations are all performed in real currency units (net of inflation), although results can be displayed in both real (constant) and discounted currency units.
Three report types are provided that present the output of the financial analysis:
Net costs - Data from the net costs report can be used to create a ledger showing costs and benefits associated with planning scenarios.
Net present value - With the use of a real discount rate, the results can also be presented in the form of net present value, providing a method for comparing future infrastructure projects or demand management programs with different completion dates.
Average cost of water - The average cost of water report divides total costs by the total volume of water delivered to demands and provides a way to compare the per unit costs across various scenarios.
For each item in a WEAP schematic, costs can be subdivided into capital and operations costs. Operations costs can be further subdivided into fixed (per year) and variable (per unit of water) costs. Benefits for each item can be subdivided into fixed and variable categories as well. All financial data entered for capital costs, fixed operations costs, and fixed benefits must be annual values. For instance, if a user enters a capital cost that represents loan payments, the total annual payments are entered. Financial data can also be entered for the entire supply and resources system--see Entering System Costs and Benefits.