Data centers

As data centers expand in size and energy consumption, their influence on electrical grids becomes increasingly complex. High concentrations of load can affect power quality, stability, and reliability, especially during transient voltage disturbances and load fluctuations. With our real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) platform, users can simulate large-scale data centers, analyze their behavior under dynamic grid conditions, and safely test control and protection strategies. From design to deployment, our tools help anticipate operational risks and support a more stable, resilient energy ecosystem.

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Challenges

Powering modern data centers: The new grid challenges

Modern data centers are adopting diverse and evolving electrical infrastructures. But this shift brings major challenges:

Complex power load behavior: New equipment, power converters, and load profiles create interactions with the grid that are difficult to model and validate.
New electrical infrastructures: DC based datacenters, solid state transformers, and other modern power converter topologies
Power quality issues: Rapid, non-linear load changes can trigger voltage dips, frequency deviations, harmonics, and flicker.

Sub-synchronous interaction (SSI): Low-frequency oscillations can resonate with generator shaft torsional modes which causes fatigue, damage, or failure.
Smarter energy management needed: Dynamic IT and cooling loads demand adaptive energy management strategies to optimize consumption.
Complex system coordination: Fault ride-through, protection, and synchronization must work seamlessly across grid, on-site, and backup systems.

Advanced modeling and real-time simulation are essential to test new designs and ensure reliable operation.

Solution

Hardware-in-loop
testing for data centers

Validate and optimize data center power and control systems safely.

Success story

Powering next-generation data center reliability with advanced UPS testing

Discover how Schneider Electric accelerated the development of its modular Galaxy PX UPS engineered for small and medium data centers using our solution to achieve faster validation, enhanced reliability, and significantly improved testing efficiency.

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With OPAL-RT, we introduced a new HIL-based simulation platform that automates 80% of UPS testing and executes 700+ cases across 10–15 rounds. Compared to the previous 50% coverage and 600+ cases in 3–4 rounds, this boosts automation by ~30% and weekly test volume by over 40%.The platform lets us recreate complex real-world events and extreme fault conditions with accuracy, all without putting our hardware at risk. Remote, continuous testing allows the system to run for a full week without supervision, which has dramatically accelerated our R&D.

Ricky Zhang

Chief Firmware Test Specialist, Secure Power Division, Energy Management Business at Schneider Electric

Why choose OPAL-RT?

A proven track record

With decades of collaboration with industry leaders and top research institutions, OPAL-RT brings proven expertise in real-time power systems and power electronics simulation.

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Improve grid stability & reliability

Validate data center power infrastructure performance across diverse testing scenarios, including EMT, stability, and protection studies.

Broad topology coverage

Model a wide range of advanced converter topologies, including Half-Bridge, Full-Bridge, Dual Active Bridge (DAB), and Multiple Active Bridge (MAB).

Ultra-fast resolution

Achieve 40 ns resolution with a consistent timestep no matter the configuration, delivering the speed and accuracy needed to capture fast switching dynamics.

High-density integration

Up to 64 Modular VSCs within a single FPGA, enabling high-fidelity, large-scale power converter simulation without added hardware complexity.

POWER IN MIND — VOLUME 11

How the explosive growth of AI data centers is reshaping power systems

This edition of Power in Mind magazine explores the electrified frontier where AI meets the grid. Volume 11 examines how data centers, the new industrial giants, are reshaping power systems with loads that shift in microseconds, driven by machine learning’s growing demand. From real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing to FPGA-based modeling of modular power converters, our contributors reveal the tools engineers need to manage the turbulence of AI-powered infrastructure. Featuring insights on large-load data centers, the rise of AI-driven testing co-pilots like Voltis, and deep dives into converter dynamics, this issue captures the pulse of a revolution where intelligence and electricity converge.

Read Volume 11

Products

The essentials for data center testing

Explore our most relevant real-time simulators and platforms for power electronics modeling, control validation, and HIL testing in data center applications.

Multi-Domain, Simulink®-based HIL

RT-LAB

Fully integrated with MATLAB/Simulink® and best combined with our various toolboxes to bring multi-domain Simscape™ Electrical™ and SimPowerSystems models to real time for fast control development.

Ultra-Fast EMT Simulation and HIL Testing

eHS

Advanced FPGA technology for high-fidelity, low-latency, power systems and power electronics simulation, enabling HIL testing across energy, automotive, aerospace, and industrial applications.

AMD Versal™ Prime VM1402 Adaptative SoC

OP4815-IO

An expansion unit allowing you to upgrade and expand your real-time simulators with a larger top-of-the-line Versal™ Prime compute engine and additional and faster I/Os.

Brute force computing

OP5033XG2

Simulator based on up to 16 cores of the latest Intel® Xeon® CPU and offers up to 6 PCIe slots for optional I/Os. It’s ideal for modular configurations with FPGA and 1/O expansion units.

Demo

Data center modeling for power system analysis

See how power, thermal, and backup systems react when AI workloads push the limits.

This demo showcases a real-time digital twin of an AI-driven data center, including the grid, UPS, BESS, cooling system, generator, and dynamic AI workloads. We walk through scenarios like UPS mode changes, thermal ramp-up, grid faults, and generator synchronization. With high-fidelity real-time EMT simulation, you can observe how the system responds to fast oscillations, thermal ramps, grid disturbances, and islanding events, exactly as they would occur in the real world.

Let’s get started in real-time

Whether you need more details or have a specific question, our experts are here to help. Contact us today for personalized support.

FAQ

Find the answers to your questions

What aspects of data center systems can be simulated with OPAL-RT platforms?

You can model power converters, UPS systems, on-site generation, grid interconnection dynamics, battery management systems (BMS), and control algorithms all in real time, using detailed EMT simulation modes.

Can OPAL-RT solutions help with renewable-powered data centers?

Yes. Our platforms allow co-simulation of renewable energy sources, microgrids, and hybrid power systems to ensure resilient operation under fluctuating conditions.

What is data center simulation?

Data center simulation uses mathematical models to represent power, cooling, controls, and operations so you can study behaviour before the site goes live. The method supports capacity planning, failure analysis, and energy studies without risking equipment or uptime. Teams test “what if” scenarios, validate settings, and compare options using consistent metrics. The outcome is faster decisions, reduced rework, and higher confidence at each phase.