General Configuration

Before running a HAMLET simulation, a general configuration file (config_setup.yaml) is required to specify essential parameters. This file defines:

  • Time settings (simulation duration and timestep)

  • Location parameters (latitude, longitude, and weather file)

  • File paths (input data, scenarios, and results storage)

Time Settings

The simulation requires a starting time, duration, and timestep resolution.

time:
  start: 2021-03-24T00:00:00+01:00  # Simulation start time (ISO 8601 format)
  duration: 1                       # Duration in days
  timestep: 900                      # Minimum timestep (seconds)

  • start: The start of the simulation, provided in ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS+HH:MM).

  • duration: Defines how many days the simulation runs.

  • timestep: The minimum time resolution in seconds (e.g., 900s = 15 minutes).

Location Settings

Location parameters specify where the simulation takes place, affecting weather conditions and geographic constraints.

location:
  latitude: 48.137154   # Latitude (degrees)
  longitude: 11.576124  # Longitude (degrees)
  name: Munich          # Location name (used in result naming)
  altitude: 520         # Altitude (meters)
  weather: weather.ft   # Weather file to use (csv or ft format)

  • latitude & longitude: The coordinates of the location.

  • name: The name of the simulation location (used for labeling results).

  • altitude: Height above sea level in meters.

  • weather: Path to the weather file (must be in CSV or Feather (`.ft`) format).

Paths and Data Storage

HAMLET organizes its data across different folders:

paths:
  input: ../03_input_data     # Directory for input data
  scenarios: ../04_scenarios  # Directory for scenario setup
  results: ../05_results      # Directory for storing simulation results

  • input: Contains all necessary input data (e.g., weather, profiles, market parameters).

  • scenarios: Stores the scenario configuration files.

  • results: Holds all generated output files from a simulation run.

How It Works in HAMLET

  1. Configuration Parsing: The Creator module reads the config_setup.yaml file.

  2. Simulation Initialization: The Executor module loads these settings when running a scenario.

  3. Results Naming: The location and start date influence how results are labeled and stored.

Next Steps

With the general configuration set up, the next sections will cover the individual components:

  • Agents: How different energy system participants are modeled.

  • Markets: How trading rules and pricing mechanisms are defined.

  • Grids: How the physical network and constraints are structured.