An energy system model in SAInt is comprised of network and scenario. How can we differentiate between network and a scenario?
1 Like
Good question!
In simple words, picture your network like a car — a complex system composed of different and interacting parts — and your scenario like one of the many journeys you can take, starting from point A to (maybe) point B, following certain routes where you have limits, constraints, and new decisions to make, always respecting the traffic code.
In formal terms, a network in SAInt is a complex object describing a directed graph consisting of a set of nodes, branches and externals that are connected to one another. A network describes all geometric and topological information, along with the relational and static properties of all the objects making up the network. Your network typically does not change during the execution of a scenario. Let’s keep contingency analysis and capacity expansion modeling aside for now!
A scenario is a list of conditions making up a case study performed on a network. It is characterized by properties like the scenario type (e.g., SteadyGas, QuasiDynamicACOPF, DCUCOPF, etc.), a time window (start time, end time, time step, etc.), and the definition of settings, controls, and constraints. Depending on the type of analysis, settings, controls, and constraints may be fixed (i.e., time-independent) or changing over time (using profiles or specifying the event start and end time). The same network can be used to test multiple scenarios. SAInt’s “Project Explorer” comes in very handy for switching from one scenario to another very quickly.
I would recommend checking out our documentation as well. The two sections “Objects” and “Scenario” in the “Reference Guide” should be very useful resources.
1 Like