UPLAN

Additional features

Integrated Market Simulation

Incorporates a rich, integrated representation of physical and financial characteristics for electric system operation.

Price Forecasting

Projects hourly Locational Market Prices (LMP) for short and long-term analysis.

Optimal Power Flow (OPF)

Utilizes either DC or AC power flow simulation for Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED) to manage congestion.

Asset Valuation

Performs long-term valuation of assets like generators based on market simulations.

Risk Management

Used for volatility, hedging, and risk management analysis.

Coordinated Marginal Cost/Bid Procurement

Performs coordinated procurement of energy and ancillary services based on marginal cost or bids.

Congestion Management

Manages congestion through SCUC/SCED and optimal re-dispatch.

N-x Contingency Analysis

Performs full-fledged contingency analysis with Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) and Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED).

Simultaneous Unit Commitment, OPF, and Dispatch

A novel feature that ensures all transmission, line, outage, and physical constraints are obeyed during system optimization.

No Inherent Restriction on Size/Speed

Has no intrinsic limitations on the size of the system, speed of calculation, or number of components (generators, buses, contingencies).

Security-Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC)

Simulates the market by determining optimal unit commitment subject to security constraints.

Security-Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED)

Optimally re-dispatches the system to manage congestion while obeying transmission constraints and post-contingency analysis.

Replicates Engineering Protocols

Replicates the engineering protocols and market procedures of a system operator.

Full (AC or DC) Network Transmission Model

Utilizes a complete transmission model to project hourly Locational Market Prices (LMP).

Multi-Commodity Nash Equilibrium Algorithm

Simulates generator market participation, bidding, and arbitrage using a state-of-the-art algorithm.

Reliability Unit Commitment (RUC)

Performs a reliability check similar to those used by market operators.

Volatility Model

Enables the simulation of volatility in fundamental drivers like load and fuel prices for incorporation into system operations and prices.

Maintenance Scheduling Model (MSM)

Determines the economic scheduling of generator maintenance to stabilize reliability over time.

UPLAN Application Programming Interface (API)

A programming interface used for process automation and simplifying data import.

UPLAN PowerStack Cluster

A utility tool that runs UPLAN in a distributed computing environment to significantly reduce run-time.

UPLAN Configuration Tools

Client and Server configuration utilities that provide easy installation for the SQL database, client workstations, and monitoring of the PowerStack Cluster.

Transmission Model

Has a sophisticated built-in load flow program that optimizes load flow hourly for both unit commitment and economic dispatch.

UPLAN Advance Clearing Engine (UPLAN-ACE)

A companion system that models the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) hourly and Real-Time Market (RTM) every five minutes.

Short and Long Term Analysis

Used for analysis covering both short-term daily/weekly operations and long-term asset planning.