DynaGrid Control Center: Power Grid Control Center of the Future

The company

The DynaGrid Control Center (DGCC) is a pioneering research demonstrator co-developed by a consortium of Germany’s leading industrial and academic institutions, including Siemens AG, Ilmenau University of Technology (TUIL), and Otto-von-Guericke University (OvGU). Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), the project focuses on maintaining grid stability amidst the massive integration of renewable energy and the decommissioning of traditional nuclear and coal-fired plants.

The challenges

• Increased System Dynamics: The shift to renewable energy and power electronics makes transmission grids increasingly complex and volatile, requiring split-second re-allocation decisions.
• Long-Distance Transmission Risks: As power plants are taken offline, energy must be transported over longer distances, increasing the potential for frequency and voltage instabilities.
• Manual Intervention Limits: Current state-of-the-art control rooms rely on periodic “snapshots” of system status, which are insufficient for managing the highly dynamic nature of future grids.
• Geographic Distribution: The project required a seamless interconnection between real-time simulators and control centers located in different cities (e.g., Magdeburg and Ilmenau, 200 km apart).

The OPAL-RT solution

The consortium implemented a distributed, hybrid AC-DC simulation environment using OPAL-RT’s advanced HIL technology:

• Real-Time Simulation Platform: OPAL-RT’s HYPERSIM and OP5707 were used for real-time simulation of a reduced model of the German transmission network and intelligent digital substations.
• Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Integration: The team coupled the real-time AC grid simulation with physical laboratory-scale VSC-HVDC hardware to study real operating behaviors.
• Multi-Protocol Communication: Data exchange was managed via IEC 60870-5-104, C37.118 (PMU data), and IEC 61850, connecting the simulation environment to a real Siemens Spectrum Power 7 control center.
• Distributed ICT Infrastructure: The project enabled co-simulation across multiple labs, allowing data exchange and control signal transmission over long distances with high precision.

The results

The DGCC project successfully demonstrated the next generation of grid management:

• Automated Grid Control: Developed assistant systems for automated outage prevention and curative actions using VSC-HVDC, reducing reaction times to less than one second.
• Dynamic Security Assessment (DSA): Integrated machine learning and DSA to recognize impending bottlenecks by comparing real-time phasor measurements with simulated data.
• Adaptive Protection: Enabled the continuous optimization and communication of controller parameters based on current network status via IEC 61850.
• Validated Hybrid Models: Successfully simulated a large 400 kV AC transmission system including two hardware HVDC lines, verifying management concepts for inter-area oscillations.
• Future-Proof Methodology: Established a scalable methodology for integrating complex new technologies into existing grid structures while maintaining high supply reliability.

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