Development of a simulation game platform for flexible generation expansion planning and design of power grid systems

This paper reports on the development of a simulation game platform for planning the generation expansion of power grid systems. It addresses possible inadequacies in strategic planning of existing facilities and new systems. In particular, it considers the reliability, resilience, uncertainty, and flexibility over the long term. This platform was developed to provide optimal planning solutions for power grid systems so that the potential impacts of unexpected events and operational conditions are mitigated at the least cost. It also provides a game-based decision-making environment that assesses human performance within an experimental setting, and evaluates training techniques under various uncertainty scenarios and in a more realistic setting. This platform is a strategic planning and interactive training tool that uses real-world data to integrate data analytics and visualization with optimization and simulation. For better urban sustainability, this paper has focused on interconnecting the optimization module to provide flexibility strategies, i.e., real options. Such a tool can be used by a variety of stakeholders in diverse application settings, including planning, management, training, and policy-making. Controlled experiments are being devised that primarily analyze decision rules-based real options. This approach should improve the expected life-cycle performance of power grid systems under uncertainty.