News

Session SA52, GO Competition Performers, Sunday, October 15, 2023, 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM, CC-North 230 Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

Session Chair Jesse Holzer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

1. Scaling Security Constrained Optimal Power Flow to Multi-TimestepConstance Crozier, University of Colorado Boulder, Bolder, CO (slides)

2. GravityX: The Last ChallengeHassan Lionel Hijazi, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (slides)

3. Experiences In Solving Multi-period UC-ACOPF In GO Competition; Andy Sun, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA

4. Heuristics for the GO Competition; Daniel Bienstock, Columbia University, New York, NY, and Gurobi; Richard Waltz, Artelys, Los Angeles, CA (slides)

---

Session SC52, GO Competition Construction, Sunday, October 15, 2023, 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM, CC-North 230, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

Session Chair Stephen Elbert, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

1. Go Competition Challenge 3 - Features and Impacts of Model FormulationJesse Holzer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA (slides)

2. New Developments to Synthetic GridsFarnaz Safdarian, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (slides)

3. The Grid Optimization Competition Challenge 3 Benchmark Algorithm; Robert Parker, Carleton Coffrin, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (slides)

---

Session SE53New Algorithms for Power System Operation, Sunday, October 15, 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM, CC-North 231A, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

Session Chair: Daniel Bienstock, Columbia University, New York, NY

1. GravitySDP: A Solver for Sparse Mixed-Integer SDPsHassan Lionel Hijazi, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (slides)

2. Advances in Solving Large-Scale Grid Optimization ProblemsAndy Sun, MIT, Cambridge, MA

3. Recursive Restoration Refinement: A Fast Heuristic for Near-Optimal Restoration Prioritization in Power SystemsLine Roald¹, Noah Rhodes¹, Carleton Coffrin², ¹University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, ²Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

4. Linear Formulations for AC-OPFMatias Villagra, Columbia University, NYC, NY

5. Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Electricity MarketsRobert Ferrando¹, Laurent Pagnier², Robert Mieth³, Zhirui Liang⁴, Yury Dvorkin⁵, Daniel Bienstock⁶, Michael Chertkov¹, ¹University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, ²University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, ³Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, ⁴Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, ⁵Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, ⁶Columbia University, New York, NY

---

Session SK02, Keynote: The Electric Grid in Evolution: Data, Optimization, and Risk-Taking, Sunday, October 15, 5:25 PM – 6:15 PM, CC-West 301ABC, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

Daniel Bienstock, Columbia University, New York, NY (slides)

---

Recent Progress in Optimization Software, Monday, October 16, 2023, 10:45 – 5:15 PM, CC-North 222C, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

Session Chair: Hans Mittelmann, Arizona State University

Sessions: MB36MC36MD36ME36 (slides)

---

Session TA52, Optimization and Machine Learning in Power Systems, Tuesday, October 17, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

1. Differentially Private Algorithms for Synthetic Power System DatasetsVladimir Dvorkin, Audun Botterud, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

2. Employing Optimization Tools Developed by the Machine Learning Community to Solve Large Scale Power Flow Optimization ProblemsSamuel Chevalier, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT (slides)

3. Data-Driven Linearization for Optimal Power FlowTerrence W K Mak, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (slides)

4. Forecasting and Asset Bundling for Renewable EnergyHanyu Zhang¹, Mathieu Tanneau², Pascal Van Hentenryck¹, ¹ISyE Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, ²Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA

---

Session WA51, PERFORMS: Integrating Non-Traditional Resources and Reducing Asset Delivery Risk in Power Systems, Wednesday, October 18 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM, CC-North 229B, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

1. Economic and Reliability Outcomes of a Risk-Adjusted Stochastic Day-Ahead Unit Commitment ModelDalia Patino-Echeverri, Duke University, Durham, NC

2. Stochastic Nodal Adequacy Pricing: Dealing with Uncertainty in Electric MarketsSelin Yanikara, Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich, Newton, MA

3. Stochastic Market Auction Redesigned Trading System (Smarts) Update: The Value of Virtual Power Plant and Global Market IntelligenceHung-po Chao, Energy Trading Analytics (ETA), Palo Alto, CA

4. Flexibility as Optionality: Methods to Value the Flexibility of Distributed Energy ResourcesHelyette Geman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

---

Session WB51, PERFORMS: New Approaches to Risk Management in Power Markets, Wednesday, October 18, 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM, CC-North 229B, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ

1. System Risk of Renewable Technologies and Its Impact on Clearing Power MarketsAlexander Wasilkoff¹, Panagiotis Andrianesis², Michael C, Caramanis¹, ¹Boston University, Boston, MA, ²Boston University, Boston, MA

2. Abscores, Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Electricity Systems Using Banking Scoring and Rating MethodologiesAlberto Lamadrid, Lehigh University, Philadelphia, PA

3. Performance Risk Scoring of Risk-Free Renewable Generation BidsAparna Gupta¹, Denis Osipov², ¹Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, ²Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

4. Enhancing Decision Support for Electricity Markets with Machine LearningYury Dvorkin, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (Steve: nice GAN discussion)

---

 A few of the people with a GO Competition connection after the Sunday morning presentations.


Dan Bienstock, Jim Ostrowski, Andy Sun, Carleton Coffrin, Dirk Lauinger, Mathew Brun, Robert Parker, Farnaz Safdarian, Hassan Hijazi, Constance Crozier, Sam Chevalier, Jesse Holzer, Hans Mittelmann

September 21, 2023

Results from Event 4 were posted today. Submissions were received from 13 teams: Artelys_Columbia, Electric-Stampede (University of Texas at Austin), Gatorgar (University of Florida), GOT-BSI-OPF (Global Optimization Technology, Inc.), GravityX (individual), LLGoMax (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Occam's razor (individual), PACE (IncSys), PGWOpt (University of Pittsburgh), quasiGrad (individual), The Blackouts (University of Tennessee - Knoxville), TIM-GO (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and YongOptimization (Mississippi State University).

September 7, 2023

The following GO Competition related talks were presented at the 2023 ARPA-E Virtual Grid Software Annual Review

  • GravityX, presented by Hassan Hijazi, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Presentation
  • Electric-Stampede’s Approach: Fast and Robust Strategies for Large-scale mixed-integer SCOPF, presented by Javad Mohammadi, UT Austin and Hussein Sharadga, University of Texas - Austin
  • Fast AC Security-Constrained Optimal Power Flow with Unit Commitment on High Performance Computing, presented by Yong Fu, Mississippi State University; Presentation
  • TIM-GO, presented by Andy Sun, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Presentation

June 27, 2023

The following talks were presented at the 2023 FERC Software Conference by individuals with a GO Competition connection:

  • Simulation of Wholesale Electricity Markets with Capacity Expansion and Production Cost Models to Understand Feedback between Short-Term Market Procedures and Long-Term Investment Incentives, presented by Jesse Holzer
  • Integration of DER Aggregations in ISO-Scale SCUC Models, presented by Brent Eldridge; Presentation
  • Energy Storage Participation Algorithm Competition (ESPA-Comp), presented by Brent Eldridge; Presentation
  • Mine Production Scheduling under Time-of-Use Power Rates with Renewable Energy Sources, presented by Daniel Bienstock; Presentation

June 27, 2023

Results from Event 3 were posted today. Submissions were received from 13 teams: Argonauts (Argonne National Laboratory), Artelys_Columbia, Electric-Stampede (University of Texas at Austin), Gatorgar (University of Florida), GOT-BSI-OPF (Global Optimization Technology, Inc.), GravityX (individual), LLGoMax (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), PACE (IncSys), PGWOpt (University of Pittsburgh), quasiGrad (individual), The Blackouts (University of Tennessee - Knoxville), TIM-GO (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and YongOptimization (Mississippi State University).

April 24, 2023

Results from Event 2 were posted today. Submissions were received from 12 teams: Argonauts (Argonne National Laboratory), Artelys_Columbia, Electric-Stampede (University of Texas at Austin), Gatorgar (University of Florida), GOT-BSI-OPF (Global Optimization Technology, Inc.), LLGoMax (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), PACE (IncSys), PGWOpt (University of Pittsburgh), quasiGrad (individual), The Blackouts (University of Tennessee - Knoxville), TIM-GO (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and YongOptimization (Mississippi State University).

February 13, 2023

Results from Event 1 were posted today. Submissions were received from 11 teams: Argonauts (Argonne National Laboratory), Artelys_Columbia, Electric-Stampede (University of Texas at Austin), Gatorgar (University of Florida), GOT-BSI-OPF (Global Optimization Technology, Inc.), LLGoMax (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), PACE (IncSys), PGWOpt (University of Pittsburgh), The Blackouts (University of Tennessee - Knoxville), TIM-GO (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and YongOptimization (Mississippi State University).

December 8, 2022

In a press release, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that at least13 teams from 11 states will compete in the Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Challenge 3, which requires them to develop software management solutions to address real-world power grid conditions. The GO Competition—managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with support from Arizona State University, Georgia Tech, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison—echoes the Biden Administration’s commitment to create a more reliable, resilient, and secure American electricity grid.

December 7, 2022

Access to the Challenge 3 Evaluation Platform is now available via a Sandbox submission. A Sandbox submission will run an entrants solver against selected Sandbox datasets using the Evaluation Platform. Entrants are strongly encouraged to make use of this capability to test the correctness of their runtime parameters before an Event. Datasets currently available include S0 and, soon, S1.

The Sandbox will remain Open for Submissions throughout Challenge 3 except when and Event is taking place.

Session MB61, October 17, 2022, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM, Room Marriott 8 (second floor), Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, 350 West Maryland Street, Indianapolis, IN

Session Chair Richard Paul O'Neill, ARPA-E, Silver Spring, MD

1. Open-source Tools For Solving Grid Optimization ProblemsCarleton Coffrin, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (slides)

2. Convex Relaxations And Integer Rounding Heuristics For The Grid Optimization CompetitionHassan Lionel Hijazi, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (slides)

3. Solving security-constrained ACOPF problems ; Daniel Bienstock, Columbia University, New York, NY, and Gurobi; Richard Waltz, Artelys, Los Angeles, CA (slides)

4. GO-SNIP Decomposition and Contingency Selection Strategies for GO Competition Challenge 2; Frank E. Curtis, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA; Ermin Wei, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Session SE61, October 16, 2022, 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM, Room Marriott 8 (second floor), Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, 350 West Maryland Street, Indianapolis, IN

Session Chair Richard Paul O'Neill, ARPA-E, Silver Spring, MD

1. Grid Optimization Go Competition: Goals And FormulationJesse Holzer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA (slides)

2. Go Competition Challenge 2: Analysis And Lessons LearnedBrent Eldridge, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Baltimore, MD (slides)

3. Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Challenge 2 Case StudiesFarnaz Safdarian, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (slides)

4. Make It Real. Exploring The Gaps Between Power System Optimization Problems And RealityScott Greene, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI

August 23, 2022

The S0 Sandbox dataset (50.3 MB) was released for download. It contains of 5 networks consisting of  3-, 14-, 37-, 73- and 6049-buses. There are 27 datasets, 9 for each division. Each dataset consists of a JSON file and a TXT file. The JSON file contains the data and the TXT file contains summary information about the dataset.

June 23, 2022

The following GO Competition related talks were presented at the 2022 FERC Software Conference:

  • GO Competition Challenge 2: Analysis and Lessons Learned, presented by Brent Eldridge; Presentation
  • GO Competition Challenge 3: Goals and Formulation, presented by Jesse Holzer; Presentation
  • Solving GO competition ACOPF problems, presented by Daniel Bienstock; Presentation
     

February 16, 2022

The Grid Optimization Competition Challenge 3 Problem Formulation has been released. ARPA-E has issued a Press Release and a Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0002690), Support Grants For Participation in ARPA-E Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Challenge 3. The Full Application Submission Deadline is 4/5/2022 9:30 AM ET. 

Participation in the GO Competition Challenge 3 will be open to anyone that satisfies the applicable requirements in the Rules Document, not just those awarded under ARPA-E DE-FOA-0002690.

February 9, 2022

Richard (Dick) O'Neill, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Distinguished Senior Fellow and GO Competition Program Director, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering for "leadership and contributions to the liberalization and design of efficient natural gas and electric power markets."

January 3, 2022

Submissions for the Challenge 2 Monarch of the Mountain (Ch2-MoM) opened January 3, 2022, for registered teams and will remain open until October 31, 2022. See Solution Uploading for details. The Ch2-MoM Leaderboard will be updated every Wednesday.

November 29, 2021

The Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Post Challenge 2 Event named Challenge 2: Monarch of the Mountain or Ch2-MoM, will focus on finding improved solutions to the security-constrained optimal power flow (SCOPF) problem introduced in the Challenge 2 Event.

October 4, 2021

The Challenge 2 winner announcement is on the ARPA-E Blog:  https://arpa-e.energy.gov/news-and-media/blog-posts/announcing-grid-optimization-go-competition-challenge-2-winners. The agenda and slides for the Outreach Event are available at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/go-competition-challenge-2-outreach-event. $2.4 million in prizes awarded.

Tweets: ARPA-E tweet and PNNL tweet.

The Leaderboard has additional information.

August 13, 2021

16 teams made submissions to the Challenge 2 Final Event. All will be evaluated against 120 scenarios in each of 4 divisions.

August 1, 2021

Challenge 2 Trial Event 3 Leaderboard results have been posted.

July 16, 2021

Challenge 2 Trial 3 Event synthetic datasets published.

June 22, 2021

The 2021 FERC Technical Conference on Increasing Market and Planning Efficiency through Improved Software took place virtually June 22-24, 2021. Talks of interest included

  • HIPPO Concurrent Optimizer – Enhanced Simultaneous Feasibility Test (SFT) and Migration to Private Cloud, presented by Jesse Holzer; Presentation
  • Pricing in Dynamic ISO Markets with Unit Commitment, presented by Richard O'Neill; Presentation
  • Efficient Prices under Uncertainty and Non-Convexity, presented by Brent Eldridge; Presentation

May 21, 2021

Challenge 2 Trial Event 2 Leaderboard results have been posted and the synthetic datasets published.

January 8, 2021

Challenge 2 Trial 1 Event Leaderboard results have been posted and the synthetic datasets published.

The set consits of 11 synthetic networks composed of 63 scenarios. The 4 industry datasets, composed of 20 scenarios, will not be made publicly available.

December 5, 2020

Submissions to the GO Competition Challenge 2 Trial 1 Event closed a 00:00 PST on December 5, 2020 with 12 teams making submissions.

The Event consists of 15 networks and 83 scenarios.

There are no prizes associated with Trial 1.

November 2, 2020

The Timeline document was updated. Teams wishing to participate in Challenge 2 Trial 1 must have their Registration Documents approved by ARPA-E by December 1, 2020.

September 12, 2020

Genatowski announces kickoff in YouTube video.

August 17, 2020

Twelve network models comprising 34 scenario datasets are now available for testing in the Challenge 2 Sandbox that is open to Challenge 2 registered Teams. 

Challenge 1 teams must reregister for Challenge 2.

July 21, 2020

ARPA-E calls attention to new Challenge 2 information via Twitter and other social media.

June 25, 2020

Stehen Elbert and Hans Mittelmann presented a talk entitled Analysis of GO Competition Challenge 1 Final Event Problem Difficulty at the 2020 FERC Technical Conference regarding Increasing Market and Planning Efficiency and Enhancing Resilience through Improved Software.

24 March 2020

There will be no MATLAB support for Challenge 2 submissions.

February 18, 2020

A meeting was held at the Renaissance New Orleans Arts Warehouse District Hotel to introduce the winners of the GO Competition Challenge 1. The agenda included talks by Lane Genatowski, Director of ARPA-E, Key Industry Speakers, and a Panel discussion with selected entrant teams: LLNL, Lehigh, Georgia Tech and CU-Boulder. 

February 12, 2020

U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced that the first round of winners has been named in the Department of Energy’s Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. The GO Competition, managed by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA‑E) is a series of challenges to develop software management solutions for challenging power grid problems. The competition’s intent is to create a more reliable, resilient and secure American electricity grid. The winners will share a total of $3.4 million, which is to be used to further develop their respective approaches and pursue industry adoption of their technologies. 

November 25, 2019

Richard O'Neill took over as the ARPA-E Program Director of the Grid Optimization (GO) Competition today. He served as the Chief Economic Advisor at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) before coming to ARPA-E.

October 31, 2019

Submissions to the GO Competition Challenge 1 Final Event closed a 00:00 PDT on October 31, 2019 with 25 teams making submissions.

Session SD42ARPA-E Grid Optimization Competition, October 20, 2019, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM CC- Room 611, Seattle Convention Center, Seattle, WA

Session Chair Kory Hedman, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

1 - Arpa-e Grid Optimization Competition: Challenge 1 Overview

Kory W. Hedman, ARPA-E, US DOE, Washington, DC, Contact: Kory.Hedman@hq.doe.gov

2 - ARPA-E Grid Optimization Competition: Challenge 1 Top Performers

Ashley Arigoni, ARPA-E/QS-2, Denver, CO, Contact: ashley.arigoni@qs-2.com

3 - Arpa-e Grid Optimization Competition: Challenge 1 Results

Stephen T. Elbert, Jesse T. Holzer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, Contact: jesse.holzer@pnnl.gov

 4 - ARPA-E Grid Optimization Competition: Challenge 1 Methodologies

Carleton Coffrin, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (slides)

September 16, 2019

The GO Competition Challenge 1 timeline has been updated for Trial Event 3 and the Final Event.  You can view the changes on the Timelines webpage.

August 21, 2019

The GO Competition Platform will lock-down its software environment on September 2, 2019 and will remain locked for the duration of the Challenge 1 competition. Competition teams should submit any requests for changes before that date to the GO Competition Administrator.

August 21, 2019

The GO Competition will now host a third trial event designed to give teams more opportunities to work with large datasets similar to those from Trial Event 2. Trial Event 3 will test a smaller number of scenarios than Trial Event 2 and is optional, but all teams are encouraged to participate.

July 7, 2019

A basic code2 solver has been provided as reference for Challenge 1.  Please visit the GitHub repository for more information and video links.

June 27, 2019

GO Competition related talks at the 2019 FERC Technical Conference regarding Increasing Real-Time and Day-Ahead Market Efficiency and Planning Efficiency and Enhancing Resilience through Improved Software held at the FERC Building in Washington, DC.

  • Fast Evaluation of Security Constraints in a Security Constrained Unit Commitment Algorithm, presented by Jesse Holzer; Presentation
  • HIPPO: A Concurrent Optimizer for Solving Day-ahead Security Constrained Unit Commitment Problem, presented by Feng Pan; Presentation
  • The ARPA-E Grid Optimization (GO) Competition: Challenge 1 and Beyond, presented by Kory Hedman; Presentation
  • Performance-based Energy Resource Feedback, Optimization, and Risk Management: PERFORM, presented by Kory Hedman; Presentation

June 17, 2019

The competition timeline has been modified and updated for Challenge 1 Trial Event 2.  You can view the changes on the Timeline webpage.

June 10, 2019

In order to maximize the development time for the competitors, with open access to the sandbox for testing, we will shorten the submission window from fourteen days to three days and slightly reschedule the Trial 2 Event to the end of the work week. The new Trial 2 submission window will be from July 17th – July 19th.

June 6, 2019

Interim results for Division 2 of Trial Event 1 are available for viewing.

May 21, 2019

Interim results for Division 1 and Division 3 of Trial Event 1 are available for viewing and the associated dataset can be downloaded.

April 9, 2019

A minor clarification in the Challenge 1 Problem Formulation document was made.  Read the updates and download the new formulation document.

April 1, 2019

Challenge 1 - Trial Event 1 is open from April 1 00:00 PDT until April 15 23:59 PDT; no prizes are associated with this event.  Both the Sandbox and other Challenge 1 datasets will remain open and available during this time.

Each team is allowed only one submission for this event. Teams can submit to Trial Event 1 by submitting a Challenge 1 submission and selecting the Trial Event 1 dataset.  Good luck!

March 1, 2019

A webinar with the topic "File Formatting and Solution Evaluation " was held at 1:00 pm ET. The webinar recording is available on YouTube.  The slides, questions, and answers will be available soon.

March 1, 2019

Missed any of the ARPA-E GO Competition webinars?

You can view the webinar recording on YouTube and download the webinar slides:

Webinar #1 (recording, slides)
Webinar #2 (recording, slides)
Webinar #3 (recording, slides)

February 21, 2019

A webinar with the topic "Platform Interaction and Entry Submission" was held at 12:00 ET. The webinar recording is available on YouTube.  The webinar slides are available for download.

Pages