TIMES (The Integrated MARKAL/EFOM System) energy planning modeling platform

TIMES has been developed under the auspice of the IEA-ETSAP as the evolutionary successor to MARKAL. It is an advanced modeling paradigm that melds the core concepts embodied in both its MARKAL and EFOM (Energy Flow Optimization Model), and moves beyond them to provide enhanced representation of the power sector, simplified yet more flexible process definition, decoupling of data years from model run years, hieratical handling of sub-annual timeslices, support for sophisticated dynamic user-defined constraint, multi-objective optimization, and more.


TIMES is a comprehensive modeling platform comprising:
· The model - a set of data that fully describes the underlying energy system (resources, technologies, commodities, and energy service demands) in a format compatible with the associated model generator (MARKAL or TIMES);
· A "shell" is a user interface which oversees all aspects of working with a model including management of the input data, running the model, and examining results. Current shells include ANSWER (http://www.iea-etsap.org/web/Answer.asp) and VEDA ( http://www.iea-etsap.org/web/Veda.asp).
The MARKAL and TIMES Model Generators are the source codes, which process each set of data files (the model) and generate a matrix with all the coefficients that specify the economic equilibrium model of the energy system as a mathematical programming problem, and post-process the results.
· General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) is the computer programming language in which the MARKAL and TIMES Model Generators are written. GAMS is the property of GAMS Development Corporation, Washington D.C. Information on GAMS may be found at www.gams.com.
· A solver is a software package integrated with GAMS which solves the mathematical programming problem produced by the Model Generator for a particular instance of the MARKAL or TIMES model. Information on solvers may be found at http://www.gams.com/solvers/index.htm.