Design and Implementation of a Hierarchical Digital Twin for Power Systems Using Real-Time Simulation

This paper presents a hierarchical Digital Twin architecture and implementation that uses real-time simulation to emulate the physical grid and support grid planning and operation. With the demand for detailed grid information for automated grid operations and the ongoing transformation of energy systems, the Digital Twin can extend data acquisition by establishing a reliable real-time simulation. The system uses observer algorithms to process model information about the voltage dependencies of grid nodes, providing information about the dynamic behavior of the grid. The architecture implements multiple layers of data monitoring, processing, and simulation to create node-specific Digital Twins that are integrated into a real-time Hardware-in-the-Loop setup. The paper includes a simulation study that validates the accuracy of the Digital Twin, in terms of steady-state conditions, dynamic behavior, and required processing time. The results show that the proposed architecture can replicate the physical grid with high accuracy and corresponding dynamic behavior.