Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Analyzes Impacts Of Environmental Policy With Advanced Market Simulation Software

Atlanta, GA - Ventyx, the world's largest private software provider to the energy and utility industry, recently announced that the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has selected Ventyx market simulation software to help researchers analyze the impacts of various environmental policies on the national transmission grid and deliver viable solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, national security and the environment.

Working with partners in academia, government and industry, PNNL is tasked with reducing the environmental effects of human activities, creating sustainable systems, increasing U.S. energy capacity and reducing dependence on imported oil. These tasks entail extensive research around methods for expanding renewable energy sources and integrating these new generation sources into the grid, among other areas of investigation.

PNNL researchers are using Ventyx PROMOD IV software to enable research in critical areas pertaining to transmission expansion and planning. Researchers will use the software to conduct economic and regulatory impact modeling and assessments for various marketplace scenarios and policies, according to Will Dailey, Executive Vice President at Ventyx. "The drive toward finding greener energy solutions that promote domestic resources is at the top of the industry's agenda-and building solutions that help our customers analyze these problems is at the top of ours. So, it's very gratifying to see clients like PNNL using Ventyx solutions to analyze these complex problems. PNNL's plug-in hybrid study is groundbreaking. PNNL researchers will evaluate how additional load from hybrid vehicles will impact the transmission grid," Dailey said. "The Ventyx solutions PNNL use will allow the researchers to pinpoint areas in need of improvement in both the short and long term."

The algorithms utilized in PROMOD IV incorporate extensive detail in modeling generating unit operating characteristics, unit commitment, transmission grid topology and operating constraints, along with market operations. These algorithms can be exercised in diverse modes, depending upon the scope, timeframe and simulation resolution that aligns with the decision focus. As a result, researchers using PROMOD IV can analyze the complex impacts, risks and costs associated with alternative energy policy scenarios, such as changes to the generation resources or transmission grid and evolving demand patterns-providing green strategy that is actionable.

SOURCE: Ventyx