Debug a model

Building multistage stochastic programming models is hard. There are a lot of different pieces that need to be put together, and we typically have no idea of the optimal policy, so it can be hard (impossible?) to validate the solution.

That said, here are a few tips to verify and validate models built using SDDP.jl.

Writing subproblems to file

The first step to debug a model is to write out the subproblems to a file in order to check that you are actually building what you think you are building.

This can be achieved with the help of two functions: SDDP.parameterize and SDDP.write_subproblem_to_file. The first lets you parameterize a node given a noise, and the second writes out the subproblem to a file.

Here is an example model:

using SDDP, HiGHS

model = SDDP.LinearPolicyGraph(
            stages = 2,
            lower_bound = 0.0,
            optimizer = HiGHS.Optimizer,
        ) do subproblem, t
    @variable(subproblem, x, SDDP.State, initial_value = 1)
    @variable(subproblem, y)
    @constraint(subproblem, balance, x.in == x.out + y)
    SDDP.parameterize(subproblem, [1.1, 2.2]) do ω
        @stageobjective(subproblem, ω * x.out)
        JuMP.fix(y, ω)
    end
end

# output

A policy graph with 2 nodes.
 Node indices: 1, 2

Initially, model hasn't been parameterized with a concrete realizations of ω. Let's do so now by parameterizing the first subproblem with ω=1.1.

julia> SDDP.parameterize(model[1], 1.1)

Easy! To parameterize the second stage problem, we would have used model[2].

Now to write out the problem to a file. We'll get a few warnings because some variables and constraints don't have names. They don't matter, so ignore them.

julia> SDDP.write_subproblem_to_file(model[1], "subproblem.lp")

julia> read("subproblem.lp") |> String |> print
minimize
obj: 1.1 x_out + 1 x2
subject to
balance: -1 y + 1 x_in - 1 x_out = 0
Bounds
y = 1.1
x2 >= 0
x_in free
x_out free
End

It is easy to see that ω has been set in the objective, and as the fixed value for y.

It is also possible to parameterize the subproblems using values for ω that are not in the original problem formulation.

julia> SDDP.parameterize(model[1], 3.3)

julia> SDDP.write_subproblem_to_file(model[1], "subproblem.lp")

julia> read("subproblem.lp") |> String |> print
minimize
obj: 3.3 x_out + 1 x2
subject to
balance: -1 y + 1 x_in - 1 x_out = 0
Bounds
y = 3.3
x2 >= 0
x_in free
x_out free
End

julia> rm("subproblem.lp")  # Clean up.

Solve the deterministic equivalent

Sometimes, it can be helpful to solve the deterministic equivalent of a problem in order to obtain an exact solution to the problem. To obtain a JuMP model that represents the deterministic equivalent, use SDDP.deterministic_equivalent. The returned model is just a normal JuMP model. Use JuMP to optimize it and query the solution.

julia> det_equiv = SDDP.deterministic_equivalent(model, HiGHS.Optimizer)
A JuMP Model
Minimization problem with:
Variables: 24
Objective function type: AffExpr
`AffExpr`-in-`MathOptInterface.EqualTo{Float64}`: 10 constraints
`VariableRef`-in-`MathOptInterface.EqualTo{Float64}`: 8 constraints
`VariableRef`-in-`MathOptInterface.GreaterThan{Float64}`: 6 constraints
`VariableRef`-in-`MathOptInterface.LessThan{Float64}`: 4 constraints
Model mode: AUTOMATIC
CachingOptimizer state: EMPTY_OPTIMIZER
Solver name: HiGHS

julia> set_silent(det_equiv)

julia> optimize!(det_equiv)

julia> objective_value(det_equiv)
-5.472500000000001