PLEXOS Basic Training

Perusahaan Listrik Negara, Indonesia

- DAY 5 -

Jakarta, 5-9th August 2019

Agenda

CONFIDENTIAL 2
Day 5

CONFIDENTIAL 3
Import Wizard for PSS/E files

CONFIDENTIAL 4
PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD
• Import wizard is used for conversion of PSS/E network models into PLEXOS database:
– For conversion PSS/E “raw” files are used (version 32 supported in version 8)
– Input PSS/E file has to be converted into raw format for input (select supported version
in raw file save dialog)

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PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD
• Start import wizard and browse to saved PSS/E file in raw format
• Click on PTI options button to select conversion options

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PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD
• Select Node naming format - first options preserves bus number and bus name
in node naming within PLEXOS
• Select Node category format – second option is grouping buses in same region
under one category i.e. folder
• When complete conversion summary is displayed

CONFIDENTIAL 7
GENERATORS
• “Machines” from PSS/E are converted into Generator objects
– Generator name syntax [GEN]_[MachineID]_[Voltage Level]
– Connecting bus is assigned to Generator Node Membership
– Units property:
• “1” if bus is Code 2 (even if “In Service” status is 0)
• “0” if bus is Code 4
– Max Capacity is equal to Pmax
– Minimum Stable Level is equal to Pmin

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GENERATORS

CONFIDENTIAL 9
GENERATORS
• Post-conversion recommendation:
– Categorize generators per plant
– Revise generator names but leave bus number too keep connection with PSS/E model
e.g. [Bus Number]_[Plant/Unit Name]_[ID]

CONFIDENTIAL 10
REGIONS
• “Areas” from PSS/E are converted into “Regions” in PLEXOS:
– One to one conversion no changes
– Nodes under respective area are in Nodes membership of respective region
– No other properties defined for regions

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NODES
• “Buses” from PSS/E are converted into “Nodes” in PLEXOS:
– Nodes are categorized per Region i.e. organized in respective regional folders
– Node name is created as [Bus Number]_[Bus Name]_[kV]
– Bus properties converted:
• Units: value “1” unless bus code is “4” (i.e. bus switched off in PSS/E)
• Voltage: base kV voltage level in PSS/E
• Load: as per Bus load n PSS/E

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NODES
• Conversion issues:
– PSS/E supports multiple loads in single bus and PLEXOS does not
• Before conversion aggregate all loads in one bus into one total load otherwise only first load
will be transferred into PLEXOS
– In PSS/E bus can belong to one area but connecting load can belong to other area
• Before conversion transfer the load to bus of the same area
– Example below: Bus with 4 loads in PSS/E
• Region is assigned according to area of the last load
• First load value is transferred to PLEXOS

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NODES
• Post-Conversion recommendation:
– Transferred load reflects only single hour regime from PSS/E model
– This load is obsolete for PLEXOS but it is useful for verification of transferred model
– Verification process described in later slides
– Can be deleted after verification

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LINES
• “Branches” from PSS/E are converted into “Lines” in PLEXOS:
– Lines are categorized per “From to” bus in PSS/E (after conversion organize lines
differently e.g. on regional basis)
– Node From/To memberships are according to “From Bus” “To Bus”
– Line name is created as
[From_Bus Number]_[From_Bus Name]_[kV]_[To_Bus Number]_[To_Bus Name]_[kV]_[ID]_CKT
– Line properties converted:
• Units: value “1” unless line is switched off in PSS/E than it is “0”
• Max/Min Flow: equal to Rate A in MW
• Resistance/Reactance: in pu on system base

CONFIDENTIAL 15
LINES
• Conversion issues:
– Line rating in MVA from PSS/E is converted as MW into PLEXOS which might be overoptimistic
– Before or after conversion consider derating Max Flow by e.g. 5% to take into account effect of
reactive power

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TRANSFORMERS
• “2 Winding” “3 Winding” transformers from PSS/E are converted into “Transformers” in
PLEXOS:
– Transformers are categorized per “From to” bus in PSS/E (after conversion organize
transformers differently e.g. on regional basis)
– Node From/To memberships are according to “From Bus” “To Bus”
– 3 winding TRs converted as 3 two-winding TRs connected in one point (I,j,k is added to
TR names)
– TR name is created as
[From_Bus Number]_[From_Bus Name]_[kV]_[To_Bus Number]_[To_Bus Name]_[kV]_[ID]_CKT
– TR properties converted:
• Units: value “1” unless TR is switched off in PSS/E than it is “0”
• Rating: equal to Rate A in MW
• Overload Rating: equal to Rate C if defined
• Resistance/Reactance: in pu on system base (not on winding base!)
CONFIDENTIAL 17
TRANSFORMERS
• Conversion issues:
• 3rd winding is obsolete in PLEXOS (unless is used for load supply)
• Before conversion, delete 3winding TRs in PSS/E and replace them with 2 winding TRs

CONFIDENTIAL 18
PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD
• Conversion summary
Network element in
PSS/E Object in Plexos Import convention Additional / Corrective Action

Area Region Region.{Area Name}

Area property is defined for all buses which reflects the area designation of the
respective buses.
Buses Nodes {No.}_{Name}_{Voltage level} None. Import preserves bus number, name and voltage level from PSS/E.

None. Import preserves From and To bus numbers and names, voltage level, and
{From Bus No._Name}_{To Bus
Branches Lines circuit Id from PSS/E. Resistance and Reactance are imported in p.u. Branch rating
No._Name}_{Voltage}_{Circuit No.}
imported as Max/Min Flow line properties.
Three winding TRs are imported by creating three two winding transformers which
means that three objects are created for one three winding TR in PSS/E. Since Plexos
uses DC OPF third winding does not have a function in Plexos, therefore three
{From Bus No._Name_Voltage}_{To Bus winding transformers in PSS/E are first converted to two winding TRs. Plexos Import
Transformers Transformers
No._Name_Voltage}_{Circuit No.} preserves From and To bus numbers, names and voltage levels; and circuit Id from
PSS/E.
Resistance and Reactance are imported in p.u. TR rating imported as Max/Min Flow

Maximum and Minimum power imported as Maximum Capacity and Minimum Stable
Machines Generators {Bus No.}_{Bus Name}_{Voltage level}_{Id}
Level. Unit status can be wrongly imported.

Loads are imported as part of the Node data. Actions taken only if multiple loads are
Loads Part of Nodes Load property under objects Nodes modelled in single bus. Plexos does not support this feature and they have to be
aggregated into one load.
Shunts/SVC None - None. DC OPF does not recognize reactive power.

CONFIDENTIAL 19
PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD
• General recommendation
– Cross-check Units property of all objects with respective elements in PSS/E
– E.g. if unit and its bus are switched-off in PSS/E, Units property of the Node and
Generator are converted as “0” and generator will not be available for dispatch.
– Status of unit/load connecting lines/transformers should be harmonized
– E.g. if step-up TR is converted with Units property as “0” its connecting unit will not
be dispatched even if its Units property is “1”
– Run verification in PLEXOS based on respective regime form input PSS/E model

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PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD
• Verification
– Loads that represent respective regime are transferred to PLEXOS
– They can be used as input to one hour PLEXOS simulation
– Use “Pgen” of generators from respective PSS/E input model to define Fixed Load
property of the generators in PLEXOS
– Leave slack generator (code 3 in PSS/E) without Fixed Load defined
– This will force PLEXOS to run exactly the same dispatch as defined in PSS/E model
– Include Transmission object in simulation and set it to VSF OPF with losses enabled
(PWL option)
– Run one hour simulation and cross-check resulting regional generation, load, power
flows, losses with result from PSS/E
– Results will not be the same since PSS/E is based on AC power flow, but they should
not diverge too much
– Check any errors in topology, element status….

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PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD

CONFIDENTIAL 22
PLEXOS IMPORT WIZARD
PSS/E results
• Verification
– After verification Fixed Load and
transferred loads can be deleted and
database can be expanded with additional
data for desired simulations

PLEXOS results

CONFIDENTIAL 23
Transmission Network & OPF Methods

CONFIDENTIAL 29
DC OPF
• Transmission impacts on generation schedule:
– Congestions, power transportation limits.
– Power losses.
– Locational pricing
• PLEXOS calculates an optimal power flow (OPF) for every simulation period
• PLEXOS can solve variants of a linearization of the full AC OPF called the linearized DC OPF
• Linearized DC OPF is commonly used in power market modeling and has key advantages:
– Kirchhoff’s Law are respected i.e. power flows balance
– Computational speed and scalability – it can be solved with a linear program
– T‰he OPF can be fully integrated into the economic dispatch and leads directly to calculation of
location marginal prices
– Data requirements are significantly less than for a full AC OPF
‰

CONFIDENTIAL 30
DC OPF
• “DC” Power Flow:
– Linearised DC load flow model is motivated by the observations that in large high
voltage power systems line reactance is significantly larger than line resistance
– Bus voltage magnitudes are very similar ~1.0 p.u.
– The phase angle difference over transmission lines is small e.g. one would expect that
any given line would have an angular difference less than 30°.

• The following approximations can be made:

• Power flow between two nodes becomes:

CONFIDENTIAL 31
DC OPF
• Slack bus is then selected to form a reduced (N ‐ 1 × N ‐ 1) matrix of path
susceptances, where the diagonal terms are the total impedance connected to
each bus (Ybus matrix)
• Thus we may precompute the power transmission distribution factors (PTDF) or
shift factors for each path and injection bus combination by solving the equation
set Ybus x θi = Pi , N ‐ 1 times
• PTDF (k, l, i) is the change in flow on path (k, l) for a 1 MW injection at bus i and
simultaneous 1 MW withdrawal at the slack bus

CONFIDENTIAL 32
DC OPF
• Given these precomputed shift factors the power flow on any path is a simple linear
function:
– Flow(k,
‰ l) = Σi (PTDF(k, l, i) × Pi)
– ‰
where Pi is the net injection at bus i
• Thus the power flow model can be separated from the economic dispatch problem (i.e.
treated as a side problem) and the two problems solved using an iterative approach as
follows:
– For each simulation step (period), solve the economic dispatch problem ignoring
transmission
– Use above equation to calculate the flow on each line
– If any flow is outside bounds, add a ‘side constraint’ and resolve
– Stop when all limits are within bounds

CONFIDENTIAL 33
Transmission Objects
Region 3
• Transmission Objects:
– Regions Zone 2
– Zones
– DC and AC lines Zone 1
Region 1
– Transformers
– Interfaces
• Rules: Region 2

– There must be at least 1 Region in a model

– Each Region must have 1 Node
– Regions defined by set of Nodes, no overlap is allowed
– Zones are notional objects and may overlap other Zones and Regions

CONFIDENTIAL 34
Transmission Objects - Regions
• Region: defines a self-contained subset of the transmission network
analogous to a balancing area, control Area, or reliability area.
• Regions define the market pricing options during price formation.
• Regions are defined by collections of Nodes and define:
– Market areas
– Energy balancing areas
– Capacity balancing areas
– Reserve balancing areas

CONFIDENTIAL 35
Transmission Objects - Zones
• Zone: defines a collection of Nodes which may be contained
within a Region, or span multiple regions.
• Zones may also span other Zones,
• Zones define:
– Reporting areas for emissions, energy balancing, etc.
– Capacity areas for expansion planning

CONFIDENTIAL 36
Transmission Objects - Connectors
• Lines: Any transmission or distribution line.
• Lines are bi-directional and connect two Nodes
• Lines are either AC or DC.
– AC lines - Line Reactance (X) and Resistance (R) are defined.
– DC lines - defined using only Resistance (R)
• In linearised DC-OPF, [Reactance] only is considered in
computing shift factors (PTDFs), while [Resistance] is used to
compute losses
CONFIDENTIAL 37
Transmission Objects - Connectors
• Transformer: A transformer is a subset of the line class.
• Transformers are bi-directional and connect two nodes

• Interface: A set of lines and transformers that have additional

constraints over the entire group.
• Interfaces regulate power transfers when the combined rating
of the lines and transformers exceed the path capability.

CONFIDENTIAL 38
Transmission Objects - Nodes
• Nodes: they are transmission buses.
• Nodes define the point of interconnection within the network and the
point of injection for load and generation.
• Nodes are included in the following collections:
– Region: A Node must be in one Region
– Zone: A Node may be included in multiple Zones
– Generator: A Generator must be connected to at least one Node, Many generators
may be connected to a Node
– Generation Contracts: A Physical Contract for generation must be connected to a
Node
– Load Contracts: A Physical Contract for Load must be connected to a Node
– Energy Markets: A market must be connected to at least one Node. Markets allow
purchase/sale of energy at the Node(s)

CONFIDENTIAL 39
Transmission Details
• The included transmission detail (Regional, Zonal or Nodal) can be
specified for each simulation phase in their respective properties (i.e. ST
Schedule, MT Schedule, PASA, LT Plan)

• More detailed settings are found in the Transmission object including:

– OPF Method
– Enforcement of line/interface limits
– Losses modelling
– Contingencies
– Enforcement of bounds on phase angles
– ...

CONFIDENTIAL 40
Exercise 1: AC vs DC lines

DATABASE: AC vs DC_Base.xml

www.energyexemplar.com 41
OPF methods
• PLEXOS offers two alternative methods:
– Fixed Shift Factor (FS-OPF)
– Variable Shift Factor (VS-OPF)
• Both methods are sufficiently flexible for:
– AC network sections to be combined with non AC-network sections
– Network topology does not need to be ‘contiguous’ (can consist of
‘islanded’ segments)

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Fixed Shift factors OPF
• The FS-OPF does a pre-computation of PTDFs (makes the OPF very
efficient to solve).
• The Flow on a branch in the AC network is computed as:

• Energy balance equation is formulated on system level

• In FS-OPF, sets of shift-factors are computed as required during the
simulation.
• Nodal prices reflect transmission marginal loss factors and congestion.
• A new set is required for each unique transmission state (topology)
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Variable Shift factors OPF
• The VS-OPF models congestion and losses via explicit nodal
energy balancing constraints rather than with a fixed set of
shift factors (PTDFs).
• Similar to FS-OPF, nodal prices reflect transmission marginal
loss factors and congestion.
• The main difference is:
– By modelling a node-by-node energy balance, the VS-OPF produces a
more accurate representation of AC network losses because the losses
are ‘sunk’ at the ends of the transmission lines, not at the nominated
slack bus(es).
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Difference between OPF Methods
• The lossless VS-OPF is mathematically identical to the lossless
FS-OPF, but the VS-OPF models nodal balance explicitly.
• The two methods diverge when losses are modelled
• VS-OPF method uses the Node [Phase Angle] decision
variables to implicitly account for losses when modelling node
power balance.
• Therefore, the ‘shift factors’ change according to the system
losses

CONFIDENTIAL 45
Exercise 2: VS vs FS OPF

DATABASE: VS vs FS-OPF_Base.xml

www.energyexemplar.com 46
Loss Modelling
• Transmission Losses are “Loads” determined by characteristics of
the transmission system
• Line thermal losses are a quadratic (non-linear) function of flow. For
flow on path i:

• Total system losses are the sum of all path flows

• OPF methods:
– VS-OPF: Losses are modelled at each node
– FS-OPF: Losses are lumped at the slack bus(es)
CONFIDENTIAL 47
Loss Modelling
• Four ways that losses can modelled in PLEXOS:
– Piecewise Linear: By using multiple tranches (bands) of flow and
incremental loss
– Quadratic: By specifying the terms of a quadratic equation, which can
include constant, linear and quadratic terms
– Successive MLF: Successive Linear Programming (SLP) to the loss
function(s), iterating on the Marginal Loss Factor
– Single Pass GPF: Generator Penalty Factors (GPF) & and Generator
Delivery Factors (GDF) to allocate marginal loss charges, only one-pass
re-optimization.

CONFIDENTIAL 48
Loss Modelling
Loss modelling options:
• Model Losses (Y/N)?
• Model Losses for bus voltages above x kV
• Loss Method
• Piecewise Linear Loss Method
– Selects the smallest number of tranches that meets
either:
Precision (%)
Max Loss Tranches
• SLP Boundaries
– Iterates until:
Loss Tolerance is reached, or
Max Loss Iterations
Losses are not calculated for lines with Resistance < 0.0001!!!
CONFIDENTIAL 49
Loss Calculation Challenges
• Due to the complexity of original power flow equations, each loss model
has certain implementation challenges:
Piecewise linear:
– Increase in LP size
– Non-physical losses
Quadratic:
– Most accurate method
– Most computationally intensive method
– Integer variables difficult (doesn’t work well in MIP)
Sequential Linear Programming
– Fast convergence
– Requires iteration against the solution.
– Difficulties with unit commitment (thus not suitable)

CONFIDENTIAL 50
Exercise 3: Loss Methods

DATABASE: Loss Methods_Base.xml

www.energyexemplar.com 51
Transmission Configuration
► Allow Unserved Energy/Dump Energy: Toggles the
inclusion of these terms in the energy balance constraint
► Internal VoLL is the mathematical ‘Value of Lost Load’ as
used inside the optimization when unserved energy is
allowed
► Interruption Sharing refers to the sharing of unserved
energy across regions during periods of supply
interruption.
► USE Threshold determines the set of Node objects at
which unserved energy is allowed. By default it is allowed
at any node that participates in Load.

CONFIDENTIAL 52
Transmission Configuration
► Controls whether line/transformer/interface
limits are enforced and the voltage threshold
for enforcing these limits.

► Enables contingencies and, optionally, the

automatic enforcement of N-1 contingencies on
all branch elements (lines/transformers) in the
model over a certain Voltage Threshold

CONFIDENTIAL 53
Transmission Configuration
► Transmission Rental Method sets the formula used to
compute transmission rents. It can take the following
values:
► Point-to-Point: The rental is equal to the difference in
nodal prices across the transmission line multiplied by loss-
adjusted flow on the line.
► Flowgate: The rental is equal to the congestion-related
shadow price on the line flow multiplied by the line flow.
► The setting of this option does not affect the total rents in
the system, which are always equal to the settlement
surplus, but it does affect the allocation of rents, and thus
can affect the revenues to transmission owners.

CONFIDENTIAL 54
End

CONFIDENTIAL 55