Turning sectors on/off or using different bases without having to re-sync

[Simon Andersen]

Hi, 

Is there anyone here who has any experience in turning different sectors on or off? 

An example could be that I have a transport sector, that I in some cases have interest in, but in other cases don't. I understand that Subres-files can be turned on and off in the case manager. However, if I have information stated in the "base" of the model, it is not as easily turned off from my understanding. 

This question also covers examples of having different levels of detail for the same sectors, so that you would have the possibility of switching between different levels of detail for the same sectors in different model runs. 

So in overall I would like to be able to make different model runs with different bases without having to re-sync my model every time I need to do so? Is this possible, or are there other ways to achieve this.

Thank you in advance, 

BR.
Simon

[AKanudia]

I would create a separate scenario file, like "Scen_zturnofftransport" for this purpose. "z" so that it comes after other transport scenario files that you might have.

This would have a few UPD tables, to set the following to zero for related processes and commodities:
1. demands
2. PASTI/RESID
3. FX/LO bounds on ACT/CAP/NCAP

set START=2100 (beyond EOH) for new techs. you might need to turn off UCs too.

[Antti-L]

I would agree with Amit's suggestion of using a scenario.

You can disable also any existing techs by filtering out their PRC_RESID/NCAP_PASTI, and then by setting START=2100.  And there is no need to remove FX/LO bounds on ACT/CAP/NCAP if you disable the processes by using START=2100.

If you nonetheless would like to keep a sectoral demand for e.g. electricity, you could keep the sectoral electricity "fuel tech" and define a load curve and demand for the sectoral electricity. Note that you can do that even for non-demand commodities.

[AKanudia]

yes, it could be very useful to introduce final energy demands for all sector fuels in this scenario file, so that the primary and secondary energy picture doesn't get distorted.

a similar approach can be used to choose between different levels of detail for the same sector, but I would need some understanding of what the model looks like before giving any meaningful suggestions.

[Simon Andersen]

Thank you for the good suggestions, I'll give it a go and see where it takes me in terms of my model setup

[olexandr]

This is a very interesting discussion! :-) We are planning to do something similar (i.e. disabling sectors and representing them with FEC) with the TIMES-Ireland Model when using it with high temporal resolution. In our case the primary concern is not synchronisation, but rather ease of version control (avoiding conflicting changes to make updates easy). Would be great to have an exchange of experience on this...

[kristofferand]

This is a very interesting discussion! :-) We are planning to do something similar (i.e. disabling sectors and representing them with FEC) with the TIMES-Ireland Model when using it with high temporal resolution. In our case the primary concern is not synchronisation, but rather ease of version control (avoiding conflicting changes to make updates easy). Would be great to have an exchange of experience on this...

Great point, Olex. At the Danish Energy Agency, we are currently merging different git-repos into one common TIMES repo.  In part, this drives our interest in being able to turn off detailed modeling of individual sectors from VEDA. We would be happy to compare notes with you at some point in time.

Cheers,

Kristoffer