Real-Time Simulation Technologies for Power Systems Design, Testing, and Analysis

This task force paper summarizes the state-of-the-art real-time digital simulation concepts and technologies that are used for the analysis, design, and testing of the electric power system and its apparatus. This paper highlights the main building blocks of the real-time simulator, i.e., hardware, software, input-output systems, modeling, and solution techniques, interfacing capabilities to external hardware and various applications. It covers the most commonly used real-time digital simulators in both industry and academia. A comprehensive list of the real-time simulators is provided in a tabular review. The objective of this paper is to summarize salient features of various real-time simulators, so that the reader can benefit from understanding the relevant technologies and their applications, which will be presented in a separate paper.