IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - 26

Power Flows
Communications and
Information Flows
Physical Grid
Markets

nt

rol

Co

Co

nt

in
ma

Do

Day Ahead

ro

lD

om

ai

Real Time

n

Wholesale Market

Utilities/LSE

DR
Aggregators

Generators

TSO

Transmission Grid

in

ma

Do

Con
trol

Dom

l
ntro
Co

ain

Retail Market

DER: Distributed Energy Resources
DSO: Distribution System Operator
DR : Demand Response
TSO : Transmission System Operator
LSE : Load Serving Entities

Consumer
DER

Consumer
Loads

Commercial
DER

DSO

Distribution Grid

End Users

Control Domain

Figure 1. Individual domains in the electric power system and their interactions. (Figure courtesy of Julieta Giraldez, NREL.)

simple large-area time-series models of loads in transmission
simulations are no longer sufficient for performing modeling
and analysis. The integration of these new technologies and
their control algorithms into the existing grid require complex
control methods and extensive testing, and, at large enough
deployment, they will have an impact outside of the distribution system, with visibility into the transmission grid and
wholesale market. By using tools that only model one domain,
the complex interactions between the new smart grid distribution system and the bulk power network are lost, and their
impact on the grid may be understated. This necessitates the
use of cosimulation tools-multiple tools, each modeling a single domain in detail, that interact while running simultaneously.
The future electric grid is emerging at the intersection of
the physical networks, electric markets, and the end user. To
enable the cosimulation of the transmission grid, distribution grid, wholesale and retail markets, and end users, we
have been extensively developing open source open source
tools in a combined effort between South Dakota State University, Colorado State University, and the U.S. National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Specifically, we have
been developing tools to model and control distributed
energy resources in GridLAB-D, an agent-based distribution
system simulator, coordinated at the transmission system

26

I E E E E l e c t r i f i cati o n M agaz ine / March 2016

level, including ac power flow and wholesale markets. The
three tools presented in this article are
xx
the Data Exchange Model (DEx.py)-a combined topdown and bottom-up end-user load profile and power
network model creation tool
xx
Bus.py-a communication interface for communicating with GridLAB-D and controlling distributed energy
resources during GridLAB-D's execution (links to the
open-source code for the tools can be found at http://
www.engr.colostate.edu/sgra/)
xx
the Integrated Grid Modeling System (IGMS)-a highperformance computing (HPC)-enabled independent
system operator (ISO) to appliance-scale electric
power system modeling cosimulation platform.
The tools exist at two stages in the cosimulation process: 1) network creation and population and 2) during
simulation run time. In Stage 1, we generate the physical
power networks at the transmission level for use in MATPOWER and at the distribution level for use in GridLAB-D.
As a part of this process, we populate the distribution-level
feeders with extensive end-user assets and load profiles
for large-scale distribution-level simulations using DEx.py.
We developed a communication framework for facilitating
the cosimulation during run time in Stage 2). The framework,


http://http:// http://www.engr.colostate.edu/sgra/ http://www.DEx.py

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016

IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - Cover1
IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - Cover2
IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - 1
IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - 2
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IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - Cover3
IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - Cover4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_december2021
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_september2018
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_december2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_september2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_june2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_march2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_june2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_december2016
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_september2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_march2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_june2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/electrification_september2014
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