A Review on Providing Realistic Electric Grid Simulations for Academia and Industry

Abstract

Abstract Purpose of Review Engineering analysis and design for large-scale electric power grids require advanced modeling and simulation capabilities for a variety of studies, with two of the key study types being steady-state power flow and time-domain stability. In order to promote innovation in this area, during a time of rapid change, much recent work has been done on enhancing the availability of grid models and simulation datasets for the benefit of both academia and industry. The purpose of this paper is to review these new developments. Recent Findings Over the last several years, there have been many different developments in electric grid power flow and stability analysis. In power flow, key new changes include (1) the inclusion of geographic coordinates, (2) the addition of geomagnetic disturbance analysis, (3) the direct inclusion of weather data, and (4) new optimal power flow (OPF) and security-constrained OPF algorithms, some of which utilize machine learning. Key developments in stability are (1) many new models particularly for inverter-based resources, (2) wider availability of interactive stability simulations, and (3) greater use of wide-area visualization in both power flow and stability. Summary The paper shows the range of software platforms available for large-scale electric grid for power flow and stability simulations, along with associated data formats. It also considers modeling enhancements, including the ability to capture more detailed dynamics and coupling to inter-related infrastructure. The paper also summarizes the availability of test case datasets, both real and synthetic.