The document discusses the impact of decarbonization and increased electricity demands on electric power systems, emphasizing the need for real-time digital simulators to handle the complexities of modern power generation and distribution. It outlines applications of these simulators in testing various scenarios, such as control system validation and the integration of renewable energy sources. The paper highlights the role of smart grids and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing in ensuring efficient and reliable power system operations.

1. Authors: Ravinder Venugopal, Simon Abourida, and Jean Bélanger
Presenter: Simon Abourida
Simon.abourida@opal-rt.com

2. 2
Electric Power System
Real-Time Digital
Simulator

3. 1. Reducing hydrocarbons (Decarbonization) in electric power
generation
2. Continued growth of electricity demand especially in
developing economies
3. Electrification of the transportation sector
4. Trends towards electric power deregulation
5. Trends towards empowering consumers responsiveness to
the grid’s physical and economic conditions
3
Source : “IEEE Vision for Smart Grid Controls: 2030 and Beyond”
IEEE Smart Grid Research: Control Systems Society - 06/20/2013

4.  Few centralized and actively
controlled power generation
facilities
 … serving a large number of
distributed passive electrical
loads
4

5. 5(CHP) : Cogeneration or combined heat and power
 Increase in the complexity of power distribution and transmission networks
 Development of renewable energy systems (solar, wind, etc)
 Use of power electronics such as HVDCs, FACTS
 Use of smart metering, and monitoring devices and systems
 Development of smart-grids
Source: cleantechnica.com

6. 6
10 s 1 s 100 ms 10 ms 1ms 100 µs 100 ns1 min 1 s1 day 1 h
Economic Effect
Frequency
Fluctuation
Power
Fluctuation
Shaft Torsional
Resonance
Harmonics
Surge
Main Focus of RT Simulators

7.  Designing, tuning and deploying the components (control,
protection, power devices)
 Testing control, monitoring systems and protection hardware
in a closed-loop with the simulator
 Test a variety of operating scenarios difficult on the real
power grid: faults, load rejection, and islanded operation
7
RT Simulator
Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL)
Device Under Test
Protection Relay
FACTS Controller,
PMU, PDC, …

8. 8
I n s t a n t a n e o u s V a l u e s
R M S V a l u e s
Steady State Electromechanical Oscillation
Transient Overvoltage
Temporary Overvoltage
Resonance & Ferroresonnace
Electromagnetic & Electromechanical Phenomena
Load Flow
Short Circuit
Harmonics
Transient Stability
Modal Analysis
Voltage Stability

9. 9
Wide Area
Transient
Stability
Ultra-fast
Transients
Electromagnetic
Transient (EMT)
Number of
3-Phase
Buses
PSS/e
ETAP
DigSilent
PSCAD
EMTP
SPS SPICE
SABER
SIMPLORER

10. 10
Wide Area
Transient
Stability
Ultra-fast
Transients
Electromagnetic
Transient (EMT)

11.  A single platform that handles the RT simulation of:
 Transient stability (time step = 5 - 10 ms) - Phasors
 Electromagnetic transients (time step = 20 – 50 us) - Instantaneous
 Ultra-Fast transients (time step < 1 us) – Instantaneous (VSC, MMC)
 Works with:
 Single line diagram modeling
 Simulink / SimPowerSystems modeling
 Applications:
 Closed-Loop testing of Physical devices:
 Protective relay testing
 Phasor Measurement Units and Wide Area Monitoring
 Solar and Wind Farm integration Testing
 FACTS Control-in-the-loop testing (HIL, Power HIL)
 …
11

12. 12
Host PC
RT Simulator
PC-Based Architecture
Physical Device
under test
…
FPGA
Carrier Board
D/A A/D
CAN,
IEC61850
…DO DI
RT Comm.
Board
Ethernet
CPU
PCI Express
Adapter
Shared
Memory CPU
Multi-
Core
Multi-
Core
PCI-Express bus
Model Model

13. 13
 2 AC equivalent network systems with different frequencies
 1 unbalanced variable-load
 8 detailed windmills with controllers
 2 VSCs (MMC topology) with controllers

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16
 Simulation of complete Grid in Real-Time at:
Time-Step = 25 us

17. 17
Protection Relay
Closed Loop Testing

18. 18

19. 19
Fault group 1:
Overcurrent fault
Fault group 2:
Overvoltage fault

20. 20
1. Fault
breaker closes
2. Voltage on
bus MTL735
drops to zero
2. Fault current
increases
3. Relay trips, GOOSE
message is sent to
protection breaker
4. Fault is cleared
Setup:
Hypersim Simulator
connected to MiCOM
P444 Relay in closed-
loop.
The whole fault detection
and clearance process
takes about 15 ms for an
overcurrent fault

21. 21
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

22.  Software-in-the-loop (all digitally simulated)
 Hardware-in-the-loop
Projects
 Real-Time Simulation of Phasor Measurement Unit
 Emulation of an Over-Current Relay
 Model Developed in SimPowerSystems (MATLAB/Simulink)
 Real-Time Simulation on OPAL-RT Simulator
 Validated with actual relay (SEL-487E) in HIL setup and comparison
with Stand Alone Testing System
 Power System Communication (Station & Process Bus
Implementation)- Real-Time HIL Setup [Opal-RT + ABB-RED 670]
 PMU in HIL setup with development of graphical monitoring
interface
22

23. 23
Increased complexity of the
Power System
Trend toward Smart Systems
Integration
Real-Time Digital Simulator:
Valuable tool for design and
testing of the Smart Grid
components and systems