Development of a Real Time Simulator to Test Load and Speed Control Systems of Hydroelectric Power Plants

A real-time simulator of a hydroelectric power plant is developed and implemented. The aim of the simulator is to test the speed and load control system using hardware-in-the-loop techniques, in which the control system is connected to a real time simulator instead of being connected to real equipment. The main characteristics of the process models, hardware and software, and the tools employed for development are described. The functionality of the simulator is demonstrated with an application example.