Scenario Parameter Editor
This section discusses how scenario templates are edited for specific use cases, including edits to:
- Input Files
- Scenario Parameters
- Bids
Scenario templates often require adjustments to input parameters and may not be ready for immediate use in all cases. Users can modify a scenario's parameters by clicking on the respective sequence card. Depending on the type of simulation, parameters can be adjusted accordingly before running the scenario. This is commonly applicable to simulations such as backcast, forecast, and what-if scenarios.
There are several inputs that can be added to a scenario. Check the different tabs in the Scenario Parameter Editor:
- Scenario Settings
- Input Files
- Bids
- Scaling Options
- Simulation Rules
- Optimization
- Market Modelling
- Diagnostics
- Demand Forecasting
Inputs and Simulation Settings
This section configures the foundational settings for the scenario inputs and simulations.
The panel is organised into six sections: Scenario basics, Database, Dispatch & pricing, Output & reporting, Historical options (visible only when the scenario type is set to Historical), and Notes. All fields are visible without any toggle.
Event and Scenario Files
- Event Files: Input files that dictate specific disruptions or adjustments during a simulation. This includes unit outages (planned or forced) and changes to a participant's bid quantity, bid price, or capacity.
- Event Set File: A collection of multiple event files used to build complex, multi-event scenarios for system stress-testing.
Demand and Renewable Generation
- Region Demand: Managed via the Demand File, this provides chronological load profiles (in hourly or 5-minute intervals) that the simulated power system must meet.
- VRE Generation (Must-Run): Dictated by the
Genfile, this sets the capacity factor for must-run solar and wind stations. This factor is multiplied by installed capacity to calculate megawatt (MW) output. - Solar Irradiation (
MRHFiles): Raw meteorological data (measured in MW/m²) used by iPool Dashboard to dynamically calculate solar plant generation. - Wind Speed (
MRWFiles): Raw wind speed data (measured in m/s) required to accurately model wind plant power generation. - Meter Data File: Demand data from different meters. Often used for setting up Portfolio profiles.
- Contract Files: Input for contracts to be used in simulation.
Database and Object Loading
- Unit, Site and Storage Files: Operational and physical data loaded to the iPool database for updated market network model.
- MNM Genlist: Data essential for updating the database using the Market Network Model from the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).
- CAPEG File: Registered Capacity Generation File for updating the database.
There are three bids that can be loaded in Scenario Studio:
Historical Bid Loading
Utilized for automatic bid (-ab) loading.
Custom Bid Loading
Designed for loading specialized, user-defined bids that have been generated using Bid Manager's Aggregator and Editor.
Bid Set File
Enables the batch loading of multiple bids simultaneously by importing a compiled set of bids structured within CSV files.
Scaling Options
- Scale Station Availabilities: A multiplier for existing availability data that influences the frequency and duration of outages in Monte Carlo simulations.
- Scale Bid Prices: A uniform multiplier applied to all bid prices to easily adjust overall generation cost structures.
- Scale System Demand: Applies a uniform multiplier to regional demands across all dispatch intervals, and also the option to add or subtract specific MW to one region.
Object Filters
- Storage Objects: Loads data for energy storage facilities like batteries and pumped-hydro.
- Portfolio Objects: Represents market participants and their owned assets, including power stations, customer loads, and contracts.
- Group Objects: Asset classifications (primarily by fuel type) essential for modeling must-run renewable generation.
Unit Outage
- Unit Outage: Introduces specific planned or forced outages per unit into the simulation.
Simulation Flags
- Static Loss Factor (MLF): Accounts for transmission line energy losses between a generating unit and its regional reference node.
- Dynamic Loss Factor (DLF): Uses an equation to calculate varying inter-regional energy losses based on actual power flows.
- Ramp Limit: The maximum rate a station or unit can increase (ramp up) or decrease (ramp down) its power output.
- Energy Limit: Limits energy especially for Energy Limited Plants like BESS and pump storage.
- Forced Minimum Load (Pmin): Forces an online unit to operate at its minimum load. Recommended to be set to "off," as participants typically submit negative or very low bids for minimum load quantities.
- No Link Limit: Decides whether capacity limits on the links are enforced.
- Intelligent Bidding (Dynamic Bidding): Allows generating units to dynamically adjust bid quantities or prices based on prevailing market conditions.
- Dynamic Constraints: Uses equations instead of fixed values to define simulation limits.
Additional Rules
- Maintenance Scheduler
- Random Weather
Pricing, Caps & Reserve
- Reserve Co-optimization: The simultaneous optimization of energy dispatch and operating reserves. A toggle enables or disables spinning reserve in the optimization. When enabled, choose the calibration mode:
- Calibration Factor (PCSR): Sets a Reserve Factor (
-pcsr) input. Also exposes Reserve Bid Quantity Scale (-pcrq, default 100 = no change) and Reserve Bid Price Scale (-pcrp, default 100 = no change) fields to scale reserve bids independently of energy bids. - LP Co-optimization: Uses linear-programming co-optimization instead of a calibration factor.
- Calibration Factor (PCSR): Sets a Reserve Factor (
- Secondary Price Cap: Triggers a price cap when the average market price over consecutive intervals exceeds a predefined threshold to manage sustained high prices.
The Optimization panel configures bid optimization — the target object and contracted demand, numeric bounds, and output overrides. It contains three cards.
Optimization target
Configures the object to optimize and the contracted demand it is targeting.
- Enable optimization: Toggle to enable bid optimization. When off, the fields below are hidden.
- Object type: The type of object to optimize — None, Player, Sites, Site, or Unit.
- Object ID: The identifier of the object to optimize.
- Demand file: Path to a contracted-demand CSV file that the optimizer targets.
Optimization limits
Optional numeric bounds that constrain how the optimizer adjusts the bid. Each limit has an Enable toggle; the value field appears only when enabled.
- SRMC cost ($/MWh): Short-run marginal cost floor.
- Change limit (%): Maximum percentage change the optimizer may apply to the bid quantity. Entered as a percentage; the engine receives it as a fraction (e.g. 20 % → 0.2).
- Cap factor limit (%): Maximum capacity-factor bound. Entered as a percentage; the engine receives it as a fraction.
- Sensitivity (%): Demand-sensitivity bound. Entered as a percentage; the engine receives it as a fraction.
Overrides
Forces specific output values, bypassing the normal optimization calculation.
- Optimal ELP: Models levelised demand in the market. When enabled, enter ALL to apply to every unit, or a specific Unit ID.
- Optimal bid: Generates an optimized bid for a BESS unit. When enabled, enter the Storage Unit ID.
- Monte Carlo Simulation: Configured by the "Number of Samples" (simulation iterations) and a "Random Seed" (initial value for the pseudo-random number generator).
- CO2 Emission Bid Adjustment: Modifies a station's bid price to penalize carbon dioxide emissions.
- VRE Energy Conversion: Uses "elbow points" on a percent-of-exceedance curve to calculate energy conversion factors for wind and solar plants.
The Diagnostics panel is organised into three cards.
Scenario overrides — specialist flags that alter how the market clearing engine behaves for this run:
- Must run DB update — write must-run status changes back to the database on run completion.
- Interruptible loads — include interruptible load shedding options in the market dispatch.
- FC max flexible — allow frequency control ancillary services to use maximum flexibility in dispatch.
- Medium term PASA — run the Projected Assessment of System Adequacy calculations over the medium term.
- PASA constraints — apply network constraints during medium term PASA calculations (enabled only when Medium term PASA is on).
Link & constraint filters — limit which network links and generic constraints are active in this run:
- Link ID — restrict the run to a specific network link.
- Constraint ID — restrict the run to a specific generic constraint.
- Constraint to — filter constraints by their "to" node.
- Constraint from — filter constraints by their "from" node.
Simulation log — a toggle in the card header enables detailed per-dispatch-interval logging for debugging. When enabled, a Dispatch time field sets the dispatch interval whose solver path is logged (written as SimLog.txt in the scenario folder). Monte Carlo threads run one at a time while this flag is on.
The Demand Forecasting panel exposes iLoad demand forecasting through three cards. All cards below Forecast mode are hidden until an active iLoad mode is chosen.
Forecast mode
- iLoad mode — Disabled / Analyze / Forecast / ReForecast / Compare. Gates every other control on the panel.
Input files (visible when iLoad mode is active)
- Actual demand file — path to the AC file (
.csv) containing historical demand. - Forecast output file — path to the FC file (
.csv) where the forecast is written. - Demand model file — path to the demand model (
.csv). - Price model file — path to the price model (
.csv). - Temperature file — path to the temperature data file (
.csv).
Forecast settings (visible when iLoad mode is active)
- Meter / region IDs —
ALLor a comma-separated list of specific IDs. - Forecast start — start date for the forecast period.
- Forecast days — number of days to forecast.
- Demand multiplier — a scale factor applied to the forecast demand values.
- Irregularity threshold (%) — percentage threshold for flagging irregular data.
- Weighting — None or Chronological.
Editor Action Buttons
The buttons shown at the top of the editor panel depend on the editing context. At most two buttons appear at a time.
When editing a custom template (customTemplate context):
- Save Changes: Saves the current edits back to the custom template.
- Save as New Template: Opens a dialog to save the current scenario configuration as a new reusable template.
When editing a scenario template (editScenarioTemplate context):
- Save as New Custom Template: Opens a dialog to save the current scenario configuration as a new custom template.
When editing a sequence item (sequenceItem context):
- Save as Template: Opens a dialog to save the current sequence item's configuration as a template.
- Done Editing: Commits the edits back to the sequence list and closes the editor.