URL: /guides/fueltechs

---
title: Fueltechs and Fueltech Groups
icon: "plug"
sidebarTitle: 'Fueltechs'
description: 'Documentation of fuel technologies and their groupings in the OpenNEM system'
---

# Overview

The OpenNEM system uses a hierarchical classification system for different types of electricity generation technologies:

1. **Fueltechs** - Individual generation technologies (e.g., Coal Black, Solar Utility, Wind)
2. **Fueltech Groups** - Broader categories that group similar technologies (e.g., Coal, Solar, Wind)

This classification system is used throughout the OpenNEM API and visualisations to provide consistent grouping and coloring of generation types.

# Fueltech Groups

Fueltech groups are the high-level categories used to group similar generation technologies. Each group has a distinct color used in visualisations.

| Group Code           | Label                | Renewable |
|---------------------|----------------------|-----------|
| coal                | Coal                 | FALSE     |
| gas                 | Gas                  | FALSE     |
| wind                | Wind                 | TRUE      |
| solar               | Solar                | TRUE      |
| battery_charging    | Battery (Charging)   | FALSE     |
| battery_discharging | Battery (Discharging)| FALSE     |
| hydro               | Hydro                | TRUE      |
| distillate          | Distillate          | FALSE     |
| bioenergy           | Bioenergy           | TRUE      |
| pumps               | Pumps               | FALSE     |

# Fueltechs

Fueltechs represent specific generation technologies. Each fueltech belongs to a fueltech group and inherits properties like color from its group.

| Fueltech Code         | Label                | Fueltech Group      | Renewable |
|-----------------------|----------------------|---------------------|-----------|
| battery_charging      | Battery (Charging)   | battery_charging    | FALSE     |
| battery_discharging   | Battery (Discharging)| battery_discharging | FALSE     |
| bioenergy_biogas      | Biogas              | bioenergy           | TRUE      |
| bioenergy_biomass     | Biomass             | bioenergy           | TRUE      |
| coal_black            | Coal (Black)        | coal                | FALSE     |
| coal_brown            | Coal (Brown)        | coal                | FALSE     |
| distillate            | Distillate          | distillate          | FALSE     |
| gas_ccgt              | Gas (CCGT)          | gas                 | FALSE     |
| gas_ocgt              | Gas (OCGT)          | gas                 | FALSE     |
| gas_recip             | Gas (Reciprocating) | gas                 | FALSE     |
| gas_steam             | Gas (Steam)         | gas                 | FALSE     |
| gas_wcmg              | Gas (Coal Mine Waste)| gas                | FALSE     |
| hydro                 | Hydro               | hydro               | TRUE      |
| pumps                 | Pumps               | pumps               | FALSE     |
| solar_rooftop         | Solar (Rooftop)     | solar               | TRUE      |
| solar_thermal         | Solar (Thermal)     | solar               | TRUE      |
| solar_utility         | Solar (Utility)     | solar               | TRUE      |
| wind                  | Wind                | wind                | TRUE      |
| wind_offshore         | Offshore Wind       | wind                | TRUE      |
| aggregator_vpp        | Aggregator (VPP)    | -                   | TRUE      |
| aggregator_dr         | Aggregator (DR)     | -                   | TRUE      |
| nuclear               | Nuclear             | -                   | FALSE     |
| imports               | Network Import      | -                   | FALSE     |
| exports               | Network Export      | -                   | FALSE     |
| interconnector        | Interconnector      | -                   | FALSE     |
| battery               | Battery             | -                   | FALSE     |

# Special Categories

Some fueltechs don't belong to a specific fueltech group as they represent special cases:

- **Aggregators** - Virtual Power Plants (VPP) and Demand Response (DR) units that combine multiple smaller generators
- **Network** - Imports, exports and interconnector flows between regions
- **Battery** - Generic battery category (distinct from charging/discharging)
- **Nuclear** - Currently not used in Australia but maintained for international compatibility