See Also
The Area Display houses data about each area in the case. The Area Display is a class of
To show the area records display, select Aggregations > Areas from the Model Explorer or Aggregation > Areas from the Case Information ribbon group under the Case Information ribbon tab.
By default, the area records display contains the following fields:
Number, Name
Area’s number, between 1 and 9999, and its alphanumeric identifier. Simulator supports names of any character length. However, when writing out names to file formats with limitations on name length, the area names will be truncated at their maximum supported length.
Area’s automatic generation control status. This field indicates whether or not the area’s generation is changing automatically to control the area interchange. See Area Control for more details. You can toggle the value of the area’s AGC Status (except in Viewer) by left clicking on the entry. Valid entries in this field include:
Off AGC Area is off AGC. Generation must be adjusted manually to meet changes in load and losses. If it is not, the system slack will be forced to pick up the balance.
Part AGC Area is on AGC, with generation dispatch controlled by its units’ participation factors.
ED Area is on economic dispatch control so that generation is dispatched in order of least cost.
OPF Area is on OPF control (only used with Simulator OPF). This option is only used with Simulator OPF. When the case is solved using the OPF the area controls are changed by the OPF to maintain area power balance. During non-OPF solutions this option is equivalent to Off AGC.
Area Slack Area is on Area Slack control. This option is only available for an area if you have already specified an area slack bus number in the area’s information dialog.
Gen MW
Total real power generation in the area in MW.
Load MW
Total real power load in the area in MW.
Tot Sched MW
The net of the base and scheduled transactions between the area and all other areas, with exporting power indicated as a positive value. The interchange for an area is set on the Area Information Dialog; the MW transactions for an area can be viewed using the specified MW Transactions display.
Int MW
The actual interchange between this area and all other areas, with exporting power positive. If an area is on AGC control, its actual interchange should match its scheduled interchange.
The area control error in MW. This is the amount of MW flow difference between the actual MW interchange and the desired MW interchange. A positive value means the super area is generating and exporting excess MW's, and a negative value means the super area is under-generating and importing too many MW's.
Lambda
The area’s marginal cost. This marginal cost is relevant only when an Economic Dispatch (not OPF) solution has been run. Theoretically, if losses are ignored, an area operates most economically if all generators operate at the same incremental cost. This common incremental cost is the area’s lambda, or marginal cost.
The local menu of the area records display has an additional option labeled All Area Gen IC Curves. Select this activity to generate a plot showing the incremental cost curves for all units located in a particular area.
Loss (MW)
Total real power losses for the area.
Losses for tie-lines between areas are assigned to the area in which the terminal bus that is NOT the metered bus is contained. The Metered End field for a branch determines which of the terminals is metered.
Auto Shunts
Determines whether switched shunts for the area are available for automatic control. You can use this field to disable all the switched shunts in an area. Click on this field to toggle its value. Click on the Toggle All Yes or Toggle All No local menu options to set the auto shunts property for all switched shunts. Note that a switched shunt is available for automatic control only if it meets three conditions: 1) its control mode property is set to Automatic (see Switched Shunt Information Dialog); 2) its associated area’s Auto Shunts property is set to Yes; and 3) the Disable Switched Shunt Control option on the Power Flow Solution tab of the Simulator Options Dialog must not be checked.
Auto XF
Determines whether tapped transformers for the area are available for automatic control. You can use this field to disable all the transformers in an area. Click on this field to toggle its value. Click on the Toggle All Yes or Toggle All No local menu options to set all entries in this column. Note that three conditions must be met for a transformer to be used for automatic control: 1) its Auto field must be set to Yes (see Transformer Modeling for details); 2) its associated area’s Auto XF property is set to Yes; and 3) the Disable Transformer Control option on the Power Flow Solution tab of the Simulator Options dialog must not be checked.
Unspec. MW Inter.
Shows the total amount of interchange for the area that is listed as Unspecified. This means that some of the interchange is known in magnitude and direction (import or export) but not which other area(s) is involved in the interchange. The sum of all area’s unspecified interchange in the case must equal 0 for a balanced system.