Part I provides a general description of the TIMES paradigm, with emphasis on the model’s general structure and its economic significance. Part I also includes a simplified mathematical formulation of TIMES, a chapter comparing it to the MARKAL model, pointing to similarities and differences, and chapters describing new model options.

Part II constitutes a comprehensive reference manual intended for the technically minded modeler or programmer looking for an in-depth understanding of the complete model details, in particular the relationship between the input data and the model mathematics, or contemplating making changes to the model’s equations. Part II includes a full description of the sets, attributes, variables, and equations of the TIMES model.

Part III describes the organization of the TIMES modeling environment and the GAMS control statements required to run the TIMES model. GAMS is a modeling language that translates a TIMES database into the Linear Programming matrix, and then submits this LP to an optimizer and generates the result files. Part III describes how the routines comprising the TIMES source code guide the model through compilation, execution, solve, and reporting; the files produced by the run process and their use; and the various switches that control the execution of the TIMES code according to the model instance, formulation options, and run options selected by the user. It also includes a section on identifying and resolving errors that may occur during the run process.

Part IV provides a step-by-step introduction to building a TIMES model in the VEDA2.0 user interface for model management and results analysis. It first offers an orientation to the basic features of VEDA2.0, including software layout, data files and tables, and model management features, both for handling the input and examining the results. It then describes in detail twelve Demo models (available below) that progressively introduce VEDA-TIMES principles and modeling techniques.

VEDA-TIMES Demo Models
This is a set of VEDA-TIMES models that start from an energy balance of EU27 and focuses on building a model incrementally employing a standard approach to describing the underlying Reference Energy System (RES) and careful naming conventions. The model starts with a simple supply curve feeding a single demand and grows step by step to build out the RES adding new commodities, technologies and regions; introducing new parameters and more advanced TIMES modelling features along the way. There are twelve steps with some variants in this set of basic and intermediate demo models.

VEDA-TIMES Advanced Demo Model
The advanced VEDA-TIMES DemoS steps are based on the structure developed for the basic VEDA-TIMES DemoS (from DemoS_001 to DemoS_012), using a series of six steps implemented through additional scenarios and subres workbooks, to progressively include some additional VEDA-TIMES features. The complete VEDA-TIMES Advanced Demo is assembled in the single VEDA_Models subfolder called DemoS_Adv. In this folder are all the sub-folders and Excel workbooks needed by VEDA for setting up and using the model.
New VEDA-TIMES users should start first with the VEDA-TIMES basic DemoS and then move to this version of the model.