Solve Representation
This setting determines the level at which commitment decisions are made.
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System means that the commitment decisions for the whole system are considered simultaneously. This will generally produce the result with the lowest total system cost, but will be slower than the Region method.
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When Region is selected, the commitment decisions for regions are considered independently and are threaded across multiple cores. This works differently for zonal and nodal:
Zonal: When solving a zonal study with Solve representation = Region, each pool solves its own commitment separately before the dispatch is solved as a whole system with the commitment decisions locked in place. The representation of the system external to each pool when the commitment is determined based on the Commitment External Representation column in the Operating Pools table.
Nodal: When solving a nodal study with Solve representation = Region, the model solves the commitment for each Region (as defined in the Aggregate Area table) separately. Aurora will first solve a simplified dispatch of the system for each day to estimate power flows between regions, and then these will be used to inform the commitment solve for each Region. Once the commitment decisions have been determined, the model will solve the dispatch for each hour for the entire system with the commitment decisions fixed.
Solve Representation