Deployment of the TIMES Model Generator

Latest Project: 2023

TIMES Cloud Service - Solving TIMES Models in the Cloud

2021-2023

The TIMES Cloud Service, based on the GAMS Engine technology, has been successfully launched in April 2021. It accepts job submissions from various clients such as GAMS Studio or the well established TIMES front end VEDA , and provides a user-friendly web interface for job submission and administration. Jobs are placed in a queue and assigned to an available GAMS worker for processing, with results made available to the user.

The TIMES Cloud service provides a way to solve TIMES models on modern scalable cloud compute infrastructure and is running on the AWS Elastic Cloud. The service can be accessed from various clientssuch as Veda, Veda-Online, the TIMES MIRO App, GAMS Studio and the GAMS Engine web user interface.

Fig 1: TIMES Cloud Service - Roles and components

The TIMES Cloud service provides a way to solve TIMES models on modern scalable cloud compute infrastructure and is running on the AWS Elastic Cloud. The service can be accessed from various clientssuch as Veda, Veda-Online, the TIMES MIRO App, GAMS Studio and the GAMS Engine web user interface.

In December 2021, the TIMES Cloud Service was migrated from a dedicated to the AWS Elastic Cloud to provide users with powerful computing resources (up to 2TB of RAM) and practically unlimited parallel jobs. The service is centrally covered by ETSAP, lowering the upfront costs and increasing the accessibility of the TIMES modelling tools. The TIMES Cloud Service enhances the openness of the TIMES model generator and associated software, making it more accessible to a wider audience.

TIMES MIRO App - Deploying TIMES as Web Application

2021

The objective of this project was to deploy a complex energy system optimization model developed in GAMS (The General Algebraic Modeling System) as a web application. The TIMES model is widely used for energy system analysis and optimization. The challenge was to provide easy access to the model for policy-makers, researchers, and other stakeholders without requiring them to have expertise in GAMS or the TIMES model.

We decided to create a web application for the TIMES model based on GAMS MIRO . MIRO provides a simple, yet powerful, framework for deploying GAMS models as web applications. It takes care of all the technical details involved in deploying a GAMS model on the web, allowing the user to focus on the model’s functionality and user interface.

The project was successful in achieving the goal of creating a user-friendly web application for the TIMES model. The app allows users to upload input data, select model parameters, visualize the results, and compare scenarios.

Comparison of four scenarios in MIRO’s Pivot View

Fig 2: Scenario Compare Mode

Comparison of four scenarios in MIRO’s Pivot View

Thanks to the flexibility of MIRO, the TIMES MIRO app can be used on a local computer or with a GAMS Engine backend. Heavy computations can be easily outsourced to the cloud. The app has been used by researchers and policymakers to analyze different energy scenarios and to make informed decisions. The app has received positive feedback for its user-friendly interface, accuracy, and scalability. The source code of the app was published on GitHub under the MIT open source license.