PandaModels.jl

Overview

PandaModels.jl (pandapower + PowerModels) is a Julia package which containing supplementary data and codes to prepare pandapower networks in a compatible format for Julia packages which are based on InfrastructureModels, such as PowerModels.jl to run and calculate steady-state power network optimization. These packages use JuMP as an optimization environment.

As the figure below illustrates, with the help of PandaModels, pandapower and PowerModels.jl are connected in a functional way. The pandapower-PowerModels (PM-PP) converter enables conversion from the pandapower format to the PowerModels format. After the optimization in PowerModels, the PP-PM converter transforms the optimization results back to the original pandapower grid model, which can be used for further analysis. In addition to the existing PowerModels optimization models, pandamodels enables adding custom optimization models. Presently, reactive power optimizations can be down with pandamodels to maintain voltage setpoints, maintain reactive power setpoints, and minimize active power losses.

Installation

Install Julia

If you are not yet using Julia, install it. Note that you need a version that is supported PowerModels, PyCall and pyjulia for the interface to work. Currently, Julia 1.5 is the most recent stable version of Julia that supports all these packages.

You don't necessarily need a Julia IDE if you are using PowerModels through pandapower, but it might help for debugging to install an IDE such as Juno. Also, PyCharm has a Julia Plugin.

Add the Julia binary folder (e.g. /Julia-1.5.0/bin) to the system variable PATH Providing the path is correct, you can now enter the Julia prompt by executing:

$ julia

Install PyCall

The Julia package PyCall allows to call Python in Julia. By default, PyCall uses the Conda.jl package to install a Miniconda distribution private to Julia.

import Pkg
Pkg.add("PyCall")

To use an already installed Python distribution (e.g. Anaconda), set the PYTHON environment variable inside the Julia prompt to e.g.:

ENV["PYTHON"]="C:\\Anaconda3\\python.exe"
import Pkg
Pkg.build("PyCall")

test if calling Python from Julia works as described here.

If you cannot plot using PyCall and PyPlot in Julia, see the workarounds offered here.

Install PyJulia

At the moment only the pip package manager, not conda, is supported in Python to install the PyJulia package, the name of the PyJulia package in pip is Julia:

pip install julia

Install Package

If you want to use the PandaModels.jl package out of Python/pandapower environment, you can install is as a registered package by using the Julia package manager:

import Pkg
Pkg.add("PandaModels")
Pkg.build("PandaModels")
Pkg.resolve()

Otherwise, the package will be automatically installed in pandapower environment by applying the PyJulia-PyCall interface.

Acknowledgements

This package has been developed as part of the De­part­ment of En­er­gy Ma­nage­ment and Power Sys­tem Ope­ra­ti­on (e²n), University of Kassel and Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology (IEE).

The developers thank Carleton Coffrin, the primary developer of PowerModels.jl, for his support.