H.7 Version 4.0 – released Feb 7, 2011

The Matpower 4.0 User’s Manual is available online.⁸⁰

New Features

• Licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
• Added compatibility with GNU Octave, a free, open-source Matlab clone.
• Extensive OPF enhancements:
  • Generalized, extensible OPF formulation applies to all solvers (AC and DC).
  • Improved method for modifying OPF formulation and output via a new user-defined callback function mechanism.
  • Option to co-optimize reserves based on fixed zonal reserve requirements, implemented using new callback function mechanism.
  • Option to include interface flow limits (based on DC model flows), implemented using new callback function mechanism.
• New high performance OPF solvers:
  • MIPS (Matpower Interior Point Solver), a new a pure-Matlab implementation of the primal-dual interior point methods from the optional package TSPOPF. MIPS is suitable for large systems and is used as Matpower’s default solver for AC and DC OPF problems if no other optional solvers are installed. To select MIPS explicitly, use OPF_ALG = 560/565 and OPF_ALG_DC = 200/250 for AC and DC OPF, respectively. MIPS can also be used independently of Matpower as a solver for general nonlinear constrained optimization problems.
  • Support for the Ipopt interior point optimizer for large scale nonlinear optimization. Use OPF_ALG = 580 and OPF_ALG_DC = 400 for AC and DC OPF, respectively. Requires the Matlab MEX interface for Ipopt, available from https://projects.coin-or.org/Ipopt/.
  • Support for CPLEX to solve LP and QP problems. Set option OPF_ALG_DC = 500 to use CPLEX to solve the DC OPF. Requires the Matlab interface to CPLEX, available from https://www.ibm.com/analytics/cplex-optimizer. See help mpoption for more CPLEX options.
  • Support for MOSEK to solve LP and QP problems. Set option OPF_ALG_DC = 600 to use MOSEK to solve the DC OPF. Requires the Matlab interface to MOSEK, available from https://www.mosek.com/. See help mpoption for more MOSEK options.
  • Updated support for MathWorks’ Optimization Toolbox solvers, fmincon(), linprog() and quadprog().
• Improved documentation:
  • New, rewritten User’s Manual (docs/manual.pdf).
  • Two new Tech Notes, available from Matpower home page.
    • Uniform Price Auctions and Optimal Power Flow
    • AC Power Flows, Generalized OPF Costs and their Derivatives using Complex Matrix Notation
  • Help text updates to more closely match MathWorks conventions.
• New functions:
  • load2disp() converts from fixed to dispatchable loads.
  • makeJac() forms the power flow Jacobian. Optionally returns the system admittance matrices too.
  • makeLODF() computes line outage distribution factors.
  • modcost() shifts/scales generator cost functions.
  • qps_matpower() provides a consistent, unified interface to all of Matpower’s available QP/LP solvers, serving as a single wrapper around qps_bpmpd(), qps_cplex(), qps_ipopt(), qps_mips(), and qps_ot() (Optimization Toolbox, i.e. quadprog(), linprog()).
  • scale_load() conveniently modifies multiple loads.
  • total_load() retreives total load for the entire system, a specific zone or bus, with options to include fixed loads, dispatchable loads or both.
• Option to return full power flow or OPF solution in a single results struct, which is a superset of the input case struct.
• Ability to read and save generalized OPF user constraints, costs and variable limits as well as other user data in case struct.
• Numerous performance optimizations for large scale systems.
• Perl script psse2matpower for converting PSS/E data files to Matpower case format.
• Deprecated areas data matrix (was not being used).
• Many new tests in test suite.

Bugs Fixed

• Auction code in extras/smartmarket in all previous versions contained a design error which has been fixed. Prices are now scaled instead of shifted when modified according to specified pricing rule (e.g. LAO, FRO, LAB, FRB, split-the-difference, etc.). Auctions with both real and reactive offers/bids must be type 0 or 5, type 1 = LAO is no longer allowed.
• Branch power flow limits could be violated when using the option OPF_FLOW_LIM = 1.

Incompatible Changes

• Renamed functions used to compute AC OPF cost, constraints and hessian, since they are used by more than fmincon:

  costfmin opf_costfcn
  consfmin opf_consfcn
  hessfmin opf_hessfcn

• Input/output arguments to uopf() are now consistent with opf().
• dAbr_dV() now gives partial derivatives of the squared magnitudes of flows w.r.t. , as opposed to the magnitudes.