Application of the Digital Twin Concept for a Distribution Network

In this paper the development process of a digital twin in a real-time digital simulator (RTDS) is presented. The digital twin is based on a distribution grid section of the local distribution system operator ESTW AG. For automated import of load flow data in the digital twin a Python interface is programmed. The Python interface handles the import of the measurement data from the power grid monitoring software GridVis, which is the data management tool used by the distribution system operator, to the real-time digital simulator. After the successful implementation of the grid section in the real-time digital simulator as well as the automated data transfer, the load flow in RSCAD is validated by comparison of the load flow results of a corresponding offline load flow grid model in PSS(r)SINCAL. Finally, a Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) test is set up to test different load scenarios.