The simulation model is the key point for obtaining an operation strategy because of the complexity of the distributed CCHP system. However, simplified simulation models are currently employed to formulate a system operation strategy in most studies. To investigate whether the simulation model accuracy will influence the operation cost substantially, several detailed simulation models are proposed in this paper. An analysis and a comparison are performed on operation cost by testing the simplified simulation model and the detailed simulation model, respectively. The results indicate that the operation cost obtained by the detailed model is larger than the simplified model. However, the detailed model performs better in terms of the rationality of the operation strategy. To investigate further the performance of the two models in guiding actual system operation, a case study is conducted. The results indicate that 2240 (sic)/day, accounting for 2.5% of the total daily cost, is reduced when the detailed model is used to formulate the operation strategy, demonstrating that the detailed model is superior to the simplified model when the economy and rationality of the optimal operation strategy are considered. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.