Grid Editor
All the input data required for the features in Adaptricity are defined on this page.
Inputs are:
- Model of the electrical grid
- Electrical parameters of lines, transformers, network feeders and other electrical assets
- Load and generation at the connection points in the grid
Electrical grids can either be modelled or uploaded manually or automatically imported through our API on the Grid Data Updates page.
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The import of data from the source system (for example a GIS program) through API is the preferred method as this allows for automatic updates at a pre-defined time interval.
All available grids can be searched and selected from the dropdown at the top of the page.
Creating a grid
In the Grid Editor the user can either manually draw a model of the electrical grid topology or upload one using the Load grid from file option. To play around yourself, you can download our example Grid and import it.
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The uploaded file is expected to be UTF-8 encoded and needs to follow Adaptricity's native XML format which is defined in the XML Schema Definition.
A new grid can be created by clicking on next to the dropdown list.
Details
Some electrical parameters are mandatory to be able to execute certain calculations. In case of lines, the resistance or reactance need to be larger than 0 and, in case of transformers, short circuit voltage or copper losses need to be larger than 0. A network feeder is always required. If you upload a grid using our native xml format, which contains lines or transformers with missing electrical parameters, you can match them with entries from the Component Library.
General
Clicking on next to grid dropdown list reveals several options.
Delete
Clicking on deletes the selected grid. The grid must first be unlocked.
Lock/Unlock
Clicking on locks a grid so that it cannot be modified. Unlock the grid again by clicking on .
Copy to...
Clicking on Copy to... allows to copy the grid to a different project.
Move addons...
Move addons... allows to move any addons (Grid Upgrades, Connection Requests, Scenarios) to another grid, even if they are locked.
Export (.xml)
Export (.xml) downloads the selected grid in the Adaptricity XML format.INFO
Some of the options mentioned above are only available to users with elevated permissions.
Editing a Grid
The attributes of the components present in the grid can either be edited in the corresponding tables in the component overview or directly in the grid viewer.
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If a grid is imported via API from the Grid Data Updates page, it is locked by default and can only be modified once unlocked.
WARNING
Modifying a grid in the Grid Editor should only be done if the grid is not updated regularly via API from the Grid Data Updates page. An automatic update would overwrite the changes made manually. We therefore recommend to use a Grid Upgrade.
Component Overview
The component overview provides a tabular overview of all electrical components and their attributes present in the grid model.
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The table can be expanded to the full width of the screen by clicking on the button in between the editor and grid view windows.
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The table supports most shortcuts known from Excel, like
- copy + paste of values between cells
- dragging down to fill cells with the previous value
- and more...
Upload Customer List
A customer list file can be uploaded to add static load and generation to the grid. This will replace already defined load and generation. If you have configured your project for the Grid Data Integration API, the customer list is directly downloaded from an external server.
Auto-match with Library
An auto-match with the parameters from the Component Library for all lines and transformers in the grid can be triggered.
Grid Consistency Check
The consistency checker analyzes the grid for problems.
Warnings indicate an inconsistent grid, making it unusable for calculations. Warnings need to be fixed, before the grid can be used for calculations.
- Line parameters missing
- Transformer parameters missing
- Duplicate IDs or names
- etc.
Infos are less severe than warnings but might indicate problems in the grid that will affect the calculation results.
- Bus not connected to any line/connection/transformer
- Bus not connected to slack bus
- Fuse model missing
- etc.
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The consistency checker will automatically run when saving a grid and can be run manually by clicking the // button in the top right of the Grid Editor.
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A complete list of all inconsistencies can be viewed and downloaded in the Grid Data Updates page, if the automatic grid data import feature is used.
Grid Viewer
You can click on grid elements in the grid viewer and inspect the defined attributes. Specific electrical components can be found by name or ID using the search box.
In the toolbar on the top, the grid viewer can be configured. Clicking on allows to visualize the attributes of the electrical components as labels in the grid viewer.
The grid can be colored based on different criteria by clicking the button. Available options include coloring by:
- Voltage level
- Feeder
- Deenergized Subgrids
Map View
The map view plots electrical components that have geographical coordinates attached to them (such as buses, lines, stations) directly on a map.
Schematic View
The schematic view plots electrical components based on x and y coordinates. As such, the representation of the grid in the schematic view can differ from the one in the map view.
The schematic view is also where station internals can be visualized.
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If no x and y coordinates are defined, the schematic view is automatically generated by converting the geographical coordinates into x and y coordinates.
Grid Splitting
To split a (large) grid into smaller grids (typically) comprising a single voltage level, click next to the button, and then .
One subgrid will be created for each of the transformer stations in the original grid, which includes the transformer and the grid topology below the respective transformer.
If the grid contains more than two voltage levels, you will be asked at which voltage levels you want to carry out the split.
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Note that splitting is done in a way that makes sense for simulations. In particular, if your grid is meshed, transformers in loops will be kept together.
When the grid is split, any loads and generators of the lower-voltage grids are aggregated and attached to the higher-voltage grids. Also, the Power Flow is computed on the higher-voltage level grids to determine the operational voltages and angles of the underlying grids.
Furthermore, if the network feeder and the transformers of the original grid is parametrized for short circuit computations, a Short Circuit computation is carried out to determine the short circuit-specific network feeder parameters of the lower-voltage grids.
WARNING
If the medium voltage grid is inconsistent, the operational voltages and angles as well as the network feeder parameters of the underlying low voltage grids cannot be parametrized.
Mapping
The mapping stores the relationships between grids (for example which LV grids are attached to a MV grid) after applying the grid splitting. None, one, or several grids can be attched to a bus.
Clicking
- aggregates the loads and generators of the attached grids and appends them to the corresponding bus of the current grid
- computes the operational voltage, angle and the short circuit-related network feeder parameters for the linked grids (If they are present in the grid).
Advanced
The advanced settings allow for setting the Power Flow options.
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The options can only be changed if the grid is unlocked . In general, these options do not need to be changed, since Adaptricity chooses the most optimal settings for each grid automatically.
Algorithm
The following Power Flow algorithms are supported:
- Full Newton-Raphson / Fast Decoupled Newton-Raphson [1] --> Fastest for heavily meshed grids.
- Sweeping V3 [2] --> Fastest for radial and lightly meshed grids.
They all calculate the Power Flow of the grid and converge to the same numerical results. Their main difference is the performance.
Currently the sweeping algorithm doesn't support grids with following properties:
- Meshes that overlap (this is the case if at least one line, transformer or switch is contained in multiple loops)
- Transformers that have turns ratios unequal to 1
- Tap changing transformers
- Transformers in loops
Convergence
All algorithms are iterative. The Convergence error defines when a single Power Flow calculation is considered to have converged. If this does not happen within a certain number of iterations defined in Iterations the simulation stops, showing a warning message.
The smaller the Convergence error the more accurate (but slower) the simulation. The Iterations and Convergence error settings can be reset to the recommended defaults by selecting one of the presets.
The option Q(U) / OLTC max recalculations defines the maximum number of repetitions of the power flow calculations to make grid controllers (e.g. tap changing transformers, voltage dependent reactive power controllers, etc.) converge.
The option Q(U) convergence threshold defines the relative reactive power (as a percentage of the maximum reactive power of a Q(U) controller) change after which the controller is considered to have converged between two consecutive power flows. Lower thresholds lead to more precise results, but the power flow simulation takes longer.
Frequency
The standard grid Frequency is 50Hz, but can be changed.
Versioning
Clicking on next to the button, and then lets the user visually compare grid versions.
The tables list all the changes made to the grid per grid element type. Newly added elements are marked with a green dot, modified ones with a blue dot, and deleted ones with a red dot. In addition, you can see any modified property values side by side. The old version is striked through.
The grid viewer shows the changes made to the grid by using color codes. Any newly added elements are shown in green, modified ones in blue, and deleted ones in red.
Java implementation of MATPOWER: R. D. Zimmerman, C. E. Murillo-Sanchez, and R. J. Thomas, “MATPOWER: Steady-State Operations, Planning and Analysis Tools for Power Systems Research and Education,” Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 12–19, Feb. 2011. ↩︎
Java implementation of an algorithm described in: Haque, M. H. (1996). Efficient load flow method for distribution systems with radial or mesh configuration. IEE Proceedings - Generation, Transmission and Distribution, 143(1), 33 ↩︎