Simply

Simply – Simulation of Energy Markets with Different Clearing Mechanisms.

What doas Simply help with?

The Simply tool was developed by researchers at the RLI and helps simulate decentralized market participants who bring their local flexibilities to the market through specific bidding strategies. It enables the analysis of the coupling of wholesale electricity prices with local, dynamic grid fees and examines their impact on energy flows and the use of flexibilities.

Who is the tool suitable for?

The tool is suitable for stakeholders such as researchers or energy companies interested in exploring the dynamics of (regional) energy markets. It supports the investigation of different clearing mechanisms, taking into account grid conditions and various market participant strategies.

How does Simply work?

The tool is based on agent-based simulation, in which all market participants (e.g., prosumers or energy companies) independently implement their operating and bidding strategies. The package offers preconfigured strategies that can be set up or generated within a scenario, alongside other market participant parameters and energy time series data.

In the subsequent simulation, the individual agents place bids for energy and price according to their strategies. These bids are cleared by the configured market mechanism after each time step. The resulting trading outcomes are returned to the agents so they can adjust their strategies, if needed, for the next time step.

What are some examples of its use?

The Simply package was developed by RLI researchers as part of the BEST research project and has been used for local agent simulations as well as standalone as a market-clearing module in a field test via a Django server. Example scenarios are included as projects within the package, and example simulations have been shared in the context of the abm4energy conference.

How can Simply be used?

The program code is written in Python and is freely available on GitHub under the open-source MIT license.