The management of the district heating power station of Wels is responsible to establish a schedule of operation which accounts for the generation of the required district heat in the most profitable way. By generating the annual plan they determine the long-term amounts and prices for electricity, gas and heat. With the daily day-ahead schedule they adapt the annual values to the expected conditions of the next day. This planning process includes uncertainties, mainly caused by the variability of the energy prices and the possibility of equipment failures. In order to tackle these uncertainties most effectively despite of the great variety of possible scenarios, an all-embracing software tool would be a helpful device. In 2010 VTU Energy GmbH developed such a tool for the Wels district heat power plant. Based on a detailed thermodynamic model, the planning tool calculates the economic results for different operating modes at current conditions. The operators of the power station can use this information to decide on changing controllable parameters of the plant. A potential new tool which is currently under consideration should enable the plant staff to expand such calculations to time periods in order to facilitate iterative planning cycles. So far the annual plan was calculated with approximations. With an accurate thermodynamic model it should be possible to reduce risks of bidding into the energy market by producing more precise forecasts. Furthermore, with a consistent model for annual, weekly and daily planning a consistent source of information would be created. As a current practice, there is a weekly meeting of the power station management to discuss the status and strategy for the following days. Primary target is the management of the heat storage which is connected to the power station. The new model will contain this process. With a better heat storage management, the operation could be better adapted to unexpected conditions, such as electricity price variability. Based on the heat requirement for every quarter of an hour of the next day, a day-ahead schedule is required to reach the economic maximum. The same calculations are required by the operators to change the day’s schedule, if something unexpected occurs. Therefore, the new software tool should also account for ‘ad-hoc’ optimization including the management of the heat storage for the remainder of the day. To develop a comprehensive background for the new model, all the technical, operational and commercial boundary conditions were observed. With this information, the potential of an optimization model for the district heating power station of Wels has been analyzed and evaluated.