A Real-Time Transmission-Distribution Testbed for Resiliency Analysis

Abstract

With enhanced automation and control in active power distribution compared to the legacy system, interaction between transmission and distribution systems has become complex and need to be analyzed. Resiliency refers to ability of the system to continue serving energy to the critic loads even with extreme contingencies, which depends on existing automation, control, energy resources and network topology in the transmission and distribution system. Resiliency analysis for enabling multiple alternatives requires testbed for planning and operational decision. Testbeds having various capabilities have been developed at various institutions, but no single existing testbed can offer full scalability while simultaneously meeting high fidelity requirements for resiliency experimentation. Co-simulating testbed assets can offer a scalable experimentation platform that can be leveraged for verification and validation. As a first step in this direction, two real time simulators, Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) and OPAL-RT have been interfaced using VILLAS framework. VILLASnode provides a gateway for processing and forwarding simulated data between real-time simulators. At the core, it acts like a client/server application to connect simulation equipment and software. As an illustrative use case, the resiliency of a transmission-distribution test system is simulated and the results are analyzed. A 179 bus WECC transmission system is developed using OPAL-RT/ HYPERSIM and a modified IEEE 13 node feeder system is built in RTDS/ RSCAD and interfaced for resiliency analysis.