Listing of configuration options¶

Configuration layout¶

There must always be at least one model configuration YAML file, probably called model.yaml or similar. This file can import any number of additional files.

This file or this set of files must specify the following top-level configuration keys:

name: the name of the model
model: model settings
run: run settings
techs: technology definitions
(optionally) tech_groups: tech group definitions
locations: location definitions
(optionally) links: transmission link definitions

Note

Model settings (model) affect how the model and its data are built by Calliope, while run settings (run) only take effect once a built model is run (e.g. interactively via model.run()). This means that run settings, unlike model settings, can be updated after a model is built and before it is run, by modifying attributes in the built model dataset.

List of model settings¶

Setting	Default	Comments
calliope_version		Calliope framework version this model is intended for
group_share	{}	Optional settings for the group_share constraint
name		Model name
random_seed		Seed for random number generator used during clustering
reserve_margin	{}	Per-carrier system-wide reserve margins
subset_time		Subset of timesteps as a two-element list giving the range, e.g. [‘2005-01-01’, ‘2005-01-05’], or a single string, e.g. ‘2005-01’
time	{}	Optional settings to adjust time resolution, see Time resolution adjustment for the available options
timeseries_data_path		Path to time series data
timeseries_data		Dict of dataframes with time series data (when passing in dicts rather than YAML files to Model constructor)
timeseries_dateformat	%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S	Timestamp format of all time series data when read from file

List of run settings¶

Setting	Default	Comments
backend	pyomo	Backend to use to build and solve the model. As of v0.6.0, only pyomo is available
bigM	1000000000.0	Used for unmet demand, but should be of a similar order of magnitude as the largest cost that the model could achieve. Too high and the model will not converge
cyclic_storage	True	If true, storage in the last timestep of the timeseries is considered to be the ‘previous timestep’ in the first timestep of the timeseries
ensure_feasibility	False	If true, unmet_demand will be a decision variable, to account for an ability to meet demand with the available supply. If False and a mismatch occurs, the optimisation will fail due to infeasibility
mode	plan	Which mode to run the model in: ‘plan’ or ‘operation’
objective_options	{}	Arguments to pass to objective function. If cost-based objective function in use, should include ‘cost_class’ and ‘sense’ (maximize/minimize)
objective	minmax_cost_optimization	Name of internal objective function to use, currently only min/max cost-based optimisation is available
operation	{}	Settings for operational mode
save_logs		Directory into which to save logs and temporary files. Also turns on symbolic solver labels in the Pyomo backend
solver_io		What method the Pyomo backend should use to communicate with the solver
solver_options		A list of options, which are passed on to the chosen solver, and are therefore solver-dependent
solver	glpk	Which solver to use
zero_threshold	1e-10	Any value coming out of the backend that is smaller than this threshold (due to floating point errors, probably) will be set to zero

List of possible constraints¶

The following table lists all available technology constraint settings and their default values. All of these can be set by tech_identifier.constraints.constraint_name, e.g. nuclear.constraints.e_cap.max.

Setting	Default	Name	Unit	Comments
carrier_ratios	{}	Carrier ratios	fraction	Ratio of summed output of carriers in [‘out_2’, ‘out_3’] / [‘in_2’, ‘in_3’] to the summed output of carriers in ‘out’ / ‘in’. given in a nested dictionary.
charge_rate	False	Charge rate	hour ^-1	ratio of maximum charge/discharge (kW) for a given maximum storage capacity (kWh).
energy_cap_equals	False	Specific installed energy capacity	kW	fixes maximum/minimum if decision variables `carrier_prod`/`carrier_con` and overrides `_max` and `_min` constraints.
energy_cap_equals_systemwide	False	System-wide specific installed energy capacity	kW	fixes the sum to a maximum/minimum, for a particular technology, of the decision variables `carrier_prod`/`carrier_con` over all locations.
energy_cap_max	inf	Maximum installed energy capacity	kW	Limits decision variables `carrier_prod`/`carrier_con` to a maximum/minimum.
energy_cap_max_systemwide	inf	System-wide maximum installed energy capacity	kW	Limits the sum to a maximum/minimum, for a particular technology, of the decision variables `carrier_prod`/`carrier_con` over all locations.
energy_cap_min	0	Minimum installed energy capacity	kW	Limits decision variables `carrier_prod`/`carrier_con` to a minimum/maximum.
energy_cap_min_use	False	Minimum carrier production	fraction	Set to a value between 0 and 1 to force minimum carrer production as a fraction of the technology maximum energy capacity. If non-zero and technology is not defined by `units`, this will force the technology to operate above its minimum value at every timestep.
energy_cap_per_unit	False	Energy capacity per purchased unit	kW/unit	Set the capacity of each integer unit of a technology purchased
energy_cap_scale	1.0	Energy capacity scale	float	Scale all `energy_cap` min/max/equals/total_max/total_equals constraints by this value
energy_con	False	Energy consumption	boolean	Allow this technology to consume energy from the carrier (static boolean, or from file as timeseries).
energy_eff	1.0	Energy efficiency	fraction	conversion efficiency (static, or from file as timeseries), from `resource`/`storage`/`carrier_in` (tech dependent) to `carrier_out`.
energy_eff_per_distance	1.0	Energy efficiency per distance	distance ^-1	Set as value between 1 (no loss) and 0 (all energy lost).
energy_prod	False	Energy production	boolean	Allow this technology to supply energy to the carrier (static boolean, or from file as timeseries).
energy_ramping	False	Ramping rate	fraction / hour	Set to `false` to disable ramping constraints, otherwise limit maximum carrier production to a fraction of maximum capacity, which increases by that fraction at each timestep.
export_cap	inf	Export capacity	kW	Maximum allowed export of produced energy carrier for a technology.
export_carrier		Export carrier	N/A	Name of carrier to be exported. Must be an output carrier of the technology
force_resource	False	Force resource	boolean	Forces this technology to use all available `resource`, rather than making it a maximum upper boundary (for production) or minimum lower boundary (for consumption). Static boolean, or from file as timeseries
lifetime		Technology lifetime	years	Must be defined if fixed capital costs are defined. A reasonable value for many technologies is around 20-25 years.
parasitic_eff	1.0	Plant parasitic efficiency	fraction	Additional losses as energy gets transferred from the plant to the carrier (static, or from file as timeseries), e.g. due to plant parasitic consumption
resource	0	Available resource	kWh/m² \| kW/m²	Maximum available resource (static, or from file as timeseries). Unit dictated by `reosurce_unit`
resource_area_equals	False	Specific installed collector area	m²
resource_area_max	False	Maximum installed collector area	m²	Set to false by default in order to disable this constraint
resource_area_min	0	Minimum installed collector area	m²
resource_area_per_energy_cap	False	Energy capacity per unit collector ares	boolean	If set, forces `resource_area` to follow `energy_cap` with the given numerical ratio (e.g. setting to 1.5 means that `resource_area == 1.5 * energy_cap`)
resource_cap_equals	False	Specific installed resource consumption capacity	kW	overrides `_max` and `_min` constraints.
resource_cap_equals_energy_cap	False	Resource capacity equals energy cpacity	boolean	If true, `resource_cap` is forced to equal `energy_cap`
resource_cap_max	inf	Maximum installed resource consumption capacity	kW
resource_cap_min	0	Minimum installed resource consumption capacity	kW
resource_eff	1.0	Resource efficiency	fraction	Efficiency (static, or from file as timeseries) in capturing resource before it reaches storage (if storage is present) or conversion to carrier.
resource_min_use	False	Minimum resource consumption	fraction	Set to a value between 0 and 1 to force minimum resource consumption for production technologies
resource_scale	1.0	Resource scale	fraction	Scale resource (either static value or all values in timeseries) by this value
resource_unit	energy	Resource unit	N/A	Sets the unit of `resource` to either `energy` (i.e. kWh), `energy_per_area` (i.e. kWh/m2), or `energy_per_cap` (i.e. kWh/kW). `energy_per_area` uses the `resource_area` decision variable to scale the available resource while `energy_per_cap` uses the `energy_cap` decision variable.
storage_cap_equals	False	Specific storage capacity	kWh	If not defined, `energy_cap_equals` * `charge_rate` will be used as the capacity and overrides `_max` and `_min` constraints.
storage_cap_max	inf	Maximum storage capacity	kWh	If not defined, `energy_cap_max` * `charge_rate` will be used as the capacity.
storage_cap_min	0	Minimum storage capacity	kWh
storage_cap_per_unit	False	Storage capacity per purchased unit	kWh/unit	Set the storage capacity of each integer unit of a technology perchased.
storage_initial	0	Initial storage level	kWh	Set stored energy in device at the first timestep
storage_loss	0	Storage loss rate	hour ^-1	rate of storage loss per hour (static, or from file as timeseries), used to calculate lost stored energy as `(1 - storage_loss)^hours_per_timestep`
units_equals	False	Specific number of purchased units	integer	Turns the model from LP to MILP.
units_equals_systemwide	False	System-wide specific installed energy capacity	kW	fixes the sum to a specific value, for a particular technology, of the decision variables `carrier_prod`/`carrier_con` over all locations.
units_max	False	Maximum number of purchased units	integer	Turns the model from LP to MILP.
units_max_systemwide	inf	System-wide maximum installed energy capacity	kW	Limits the sum to a maximum/minimum, for a particular technology, of the decision variables `carrier_prod`/`carrier_con` over all locations.
units_min	False	Minimum number of purchased units	integer	Turns the model from LP to MILP.

List of possible costs¶

These are all the available costs, which are set to \(0\) by default for every defined cost class. Costs are set by tech_identifier.costs.cost_class.cost_name, e.g. nuclear.costs.monetary.e_cap.

Setting	Name	Unit	Comments
energy_cap	Cost of energy capacity	kW _gross ^-1
energy_cap_per_distance	Cost of energy capacity, per unit distance	kW _gross ^-1 / distance	Applied to transmission links only
export	Carrier export cost	kWh ^-1	Usually used in the negative sense, as a subsidy.
interest_rate	Interest rate	fraction	Used when computing levelized costs
om_annual	Yearly O&M costs	kW _{energy_cap} ^-1
om_annual_investment_fraction	Fractional yearly O&M costs	fraction / total investment
om_con	Carrier consumption cost	kWh ^-1	Applied to carrier consumption of a technology
om_prod	Carrier production cost	kWh ^-1	Applied to carrier production of a technology
purchase	Purchase cost	unit ^-1	Triggers a binary variable for that technology to say that it has been purchased or is applied to integer variable `units`
resource_area	Cost of resource collector area	m^-2
resource_cap	Cost of resource consumption capacity	kW ^-1
storage_cap	Cost of storage capacity	kWh ^-1

Technology depreciation settings apply when calculating levelized costs. The interest rate and life times must be set for each technology with investment costs.

List of abstract base technology groups¶

Technologies must always define a parent, and this can either be one of the pre-defined abstract base technology groups or a user-defined group (see Using tech_groups to group configuration). The pre-defined groups are:

supply: Supplies energy to a carrier, has a positive resource.
supply_plus: Supplies energy to a carrier, has a positive resource. Additional possible constraints, including efficiencies and storage, distinguish this from supply.
demand: Demands energy from a carrier, has a negative resource.
storage: Stores energy.
transmission: Transmits energy from one location to another.
conversion: Converts energy from one carrier to another.
conversion_plus: Converts energy from one or more carrier(s) to one or more different carrier(s).

A technology inherits the configuration that its parent group specifies (which, in turn, may inherit from its own parent).

Note

The identifiers of the abstract base tech groups are reserved and cannot be used for a user-defined technology or tech group.

The following lists the pre-defined base tech groups and the defaults they provide.