An agent-based simulation approach to congestion management for the Colombian electricity market

Power markets are complex systems in which decisions made by independent actors must satisfy technological constraints while providing a reliable service that increases social welfare. While agents freely trade their energy, trades must satisfy physical constraints of the transmission grid. The mechanisms for organizing trade and operating networks are increasingly complex and there is a growing need for computational tools that help understand how market rules work under transmission constraints. We present a hybrid optimization and agent based simulation approach for analyzing changes in transmission pricing in Colombia. The model has a module for transmission based on optimal flow problems and a market module that simulates the market operation. We show how the approach proposed is useful for evaluating the performance of generation–transmission expansion plans.