Sandia Energy > Programs > Energy Storage > Analytics > QuESt Planning Tool A Long-term Power System Capacity Expansion Planning Tool Focused on Energy Storage Systems QuESt Planning is a capacity expansion planning model that identifies cost-optimal energy storage, resource, and transmission investments. This tool is part of QuESt 2.0: Open-source Platform for Energy Storage Analytics. To the right is a high-level overview of the inputs and outputs of the QuESt Planning tool. The figure to the left provides the basic structure of the QuESt Planning tool. There are two options for running the QuESt Planning tool: Graphical User Interface: This application is designed for smaller problems and allows for enhanced visualizations.Advanced Simulations: This command-line script is designed for larger problems and enables the use of remote computing for advanced simulations. Key Features Optimization of Grid Investments: Leverages a Pyomo-based optimization model to find the cost-optimal mix of generation, transmission, and storage.Energy Storage System Evaluation: Designed to evaluate a broad range of energy storage technologies and their role in the optimal mix of generation required to support system operations. Users are able to define energy storage technologies based on power and energy capacity cost, asset lifetime, round-trip efficiency, and other operational characteristics.Model Flexibility: Supports various scenarios and sensitivity analyses to explore different investment portfolios and pathways. Scenario-based Planning: Allows users to develop multiple scenarios to evaluate planning sensitivities and scenarios.User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies the process of input data upload, planning model setup, scenario construction, model execution, and results interpretation.Enhanced Visualizations: The QuESt Planning tool provides several visualizations of the optimization model results, including optimal resource expansion plots, costs breakdowns, and interactive maps. Learn more about the QuESt Planning Tool