Power System Real-Time Simulation using Modelica and the FMI

Marcelo de Castro Fernandes, Giuseppe Laera, Fernando Fachini, Sergio A. Dorado-Rojas, Luigi Vanfretti, Shehab Ahmed, Chetan Mishra, Kevin D. Jones, and Matthew R. Gardner

bib

@inproceedings{decastrofernandes2022,
  title = {Power {{System Real-Time Simulation}} Using {{Modelica}} and the {{FMI}}},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the {{American Modelica Conference}} 2022},
  author = {{de Castro Fernandes}, Marcelo and Laera, Giuseppe and Fachini, Fernando and {Dorado-Rojas}, Sergio A. and Vanfretti, Luigi and Ahmed, Shehab and Mishra, Chetan and Jones, Kevin D. and Gardner, Matthew R.},
  year = 2022,
  month = sep,
  pages = {85--92},
  doi = {10.3384/ECP2118685},
}

Abstract

Real-time digital simulation of power systems is incredibly important for the testing of appropriate control and protection strategies in the power system industry. However, the case in which one single model can be used in offline simulations and then for testing in realtime studies is rare, if existing at all, due to the lack of adequate standard development in the power industry or the adoption of successful standards elsewhere. A direct consequence of this lack of portability is the large amount of time and resources spent in re-implementation and validation of models for real-time simulation of power grids. The present study proposes the usage of Modelica and the FMI standard in order to address this issue. To test the proposed approach, power system models are built offline using the OpenIPSL library and are exported as FMUs. Real-time simulations of two typical power system models are performed using dSPACE SCALEXIO™, proving that the proposed framework using Modelica and the FMI can greatly contribute to the enhancement of today’s current practice in the power industry by providing portability and tractability between offline and real-time power system models.

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CC BY-SA 4.0 Sergio A. Dorado-Rojas. Last modified: October 31, 2025.