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What was new in Version 22?

What’s New in Version 23

PowerWorld Simulator Version 23 contains a number of major new features and hundreds of smaller enhancements to improve the performance and convenience of the package. The following is a list of some of the most noticeable changes in Simulator Version 23, which builds on PowerWorld Corporation’s dedication to creating powerful, easy-to-use analysis software.

  • Incorporation of Weather-Related Data
    • Weather-dependent limits for branches and generators
    • Time Step Simulation using historic weather data
    • Power Flow Weather (PFW) generator models
  • Transient Stability
    • Automatically create plots that have a violation based on Transient Limit Monitor or Transient Limit Logic
    • Continued expansion of models
  • Voltage Conditioning Tool allows modifying power flow case to meet voltage schedules at buses or substations
  • Spatial View Onelines to automatically draw bus and substation onelines using geographic information
  • Continued support for reading and writing case data formats

 

What follows is a more detailed list of the changes in Simulator Version 23.

  • Auxiliary Files, Display Auxiliary Files, and Script Commands
    • In an aux file when using the special string “&objecttype ‘key fields’ variablename” the key fields and variablename can now be specified using the ‘@variablename’ syntax that will lookup the value to use from the specified field. An example: SetData(Load, [CustomFloat], [“&Zone ‘@ZoneNumber’ LoadMW”], All). This will set the CustomFloat field for every load to the MW value of that field’s zone.
    • SetData and CreateData script commands now support referencing a model field using the “&Objecttype ‘key fields’ concisename:digits:decimals” syntax when specifying the values of key fields used for identifying objects. Previously this syntax was only supported when specifying the values of non-key fields. This could be used for functionality that opens the branch with the highest percent loading in the case. Create a calculated field that returns the maximum loading and then apply this to the PWCaseInformationObject. Use the ObjectID field for identification and the CalcFieldExtra to return this string. Example: SetData(Branch, [ObjectID, Status], [“&PWCaseInformation ‘CalcFieldExtra:HighestLoading'”, “Open”]);
    • Added ability to write ContourPixel objects out to an AXD file
    • Added support for writing ContourDataPoint objects to AXD files.
    • The following script commands were added:
      • TSRunResultAnalyzer(ContingencyName);
      • TSDisableMachineModelNonZeroDerivative(DerivativeThreshold);
      • TemperatureLimitsBranchUpdate(RatingSetPrecedence, NormalRatingSet, CTGRatingSet);
      • WeatherLimitsGenUpdate(UpdateMax, UpdateMin);
      • VoltageConditioning;
      • CTGVerifyIteratedLinearActions(“filename”);
      • RotateBusAnglesInIsland([BUS num], Value);
      • SaveDataUsingBuiltInAUXFormat(“filename”, filetype, [List_of_built_ins], ModelToUse);
      • CreateNewAreasFromIslands;
      • ATCWriteScenarioMinMax(…);
      • TSInitialize(CheckAlreadyInitialized);
      • TSValidate;
      • GICTimeVaryingElectricFieldsDeleteAllTimes;
      • CTGPrimaryAutoInsert;
      • TSTransferStateToPowerFlow;
      • ExportBusView(“filename”, “bus key”, ImageType, Width, Height, [ExportOptions]);
      • CTGSort([SortFieldList]);
    • The following script commands were modified:
      • Allow multiple injection groups to be selected for injection changes in the LineLoadingReplicatorCalculate script command. To specify more than one injection group, just include a comma delimited list of the injection group names instead of a single injection group within the bracketed injection group parameter.
      • Modified CalculateLossSense to include the new loss references options for AreaSALossReference and IslandLossReference: CalculateLossSense(FunctionType,AreaSALossReference,IslandLossReference).
      • Modified the script command GICLoad3DEfield to include an option to setup the Time-VaryingSeries on Load. The script now looks like this: GICLoad3DEfield(FileType, CoarseFile, SetupTVSOnLoad); SetupTVSOnLoad is optional and is a YES/NO option and default is false.
      • TSClearAllModels script command will now delete Load Distribution Equivalents.
      • The filter for ATCCreateContingentInterfaces is now optional, and by default all transfer limiters will be used.
  • Available Transfer Capability
    • On the ATC Dialog allow using an aux file to set the option to “Analyze Multiple Scenarios” rather than always forcing the option to be checked if multiple scenarios are defined.
    • At end of ATC run, TransferLimiters will be sorted from low to high transfer limit, contingency with any base case limiters coming first, and then limiting element. Previously the limiters were not sorted at the end of the calculations, which could result in the limiters being out of order if using the iterated methods. Limiters were being sorted when loading from an AUX or PWB, and this will make the result order consistent immediately after a run and when loading from file.
    • In ATC when iterating on all limiters to determine the individual limiters to iterate on when using one of the iterated methods, the analysis will stop if a reserve limit is found because there are no available participation points for calculating the linear step size. Previously the analysis would continue on to iterating on individual limiters, but the results would be the same for all limiters because no additional stepsize could be found because no available participation points would exist for any individual limiters.
    • Added button on ATC dialog to Store Initial State.
    • Added new feature on ATC dialog to report the minimum or maximum limiter based on either the Transfer Limit or one of the ATC Extra Monitor fields and to group the results by particular ATC Scenarios and include particular scenarios in the calculation.
    • Added ATCWriteScenarioMinMax script command that will save a file to report the minimum or maximum limiter based on either the Transfer Limit or one of the ATC Extra Monitor fields and to group the results by particular ATC Scenarios and include particular scenarios in the calculation.
    • Prior to running any ATC related functionality any islands created because of the option to “dynamically add/remove slack buses as topology is changed” will become permanent islands. This is to prevent the islands from being removed if a full contingency solution is done and the “dynamically add/remove…” option is not used. It is assumed that the topology that exists prior to any ATC analysis is the desired topology.
    • Added new field with TransferLimiter objects called RemedialActionApplied. This field will indicate if at least one remedial action element was applied for the contingency. This field is only valid for IterativelyFound results of YES, NO, or blank.
    • When creating contingent interfaces from transfer limiters, base case limiters will now be included, which will create interfaces without contingencies
  • Case Information Display
    • Many more options to Plot Columns to quickly make great looking graphs for reports, presentations, and papers
    • Improved row and column metrics including metrics for strings
    • Added generator fields for MWRange, MWRangeUp, and MWRangeDown
    • Added CasePath as a field with PWCaseInformation
    • Added Bus and Bus Group (Area, Zone, Substation, Super Area, and Balancing Authority) fields to show the generator MW range (total, up, down). There are three options: either 1) the AGCable generators that are online, 2) all online generators, 3) all generators.
    • Added new fields for objects related to labels as follows. LabelCount = integer showing the number of labels specified for the object LabelsNotPrimary = a comma-delimited list of labels excluding the primary label.
    • Added fields to show switched shunt values aggregated at the bus and bus group level (Area, Zone, Substation, Super Area, and Balancing Authority).
    • IsLikelyStarBus field for bus to indicate if the bus is set to be the star bus of a three-winding transformer or if its topology makes it likely to be a star bus.
    • Added generator Step-Up Transformer Topology fields to show information about any explicitly modeled generator step-up transformers
    • Added special right-click option at the top of the case information local menu to “Follow link in browser”. This will only be an option if the first 7 characters of the cell clicked on are http:// or if the first 8 characters are https://. If those are not the first 7 or 8 characters then the option is not visible. This will work on any cell on a case information display.
    • Added bus group (Area, Zone, Substation, Super Area, and Balancing Authority) fields to show the generator MW output by fuel type, max MW output for all fuel types, and max MW output for online generators by fuel type.
    • Added a new field for Tieline objects to show the bus number of the metered bus.
    • Added new to show Latitude, Longitude, Latitude String, and Longitude String for several objects including: Area, Zone, Owner, InjectionGroup, Contingency, RemedialAction, and Interface. Fields will return the average latitude/longitude of the objects contained inside them.
    • Modified how the Column Plot works with respect to columns with bad data (i.e., not enough data to plot). Previously the user was prompted about each column, which was overkill if there were more than a few columns. Now the user has an option to ignore the columns, just getting a summary of the total at the end. Having bad data is actually quite common with weather information.
    • Added several new fields for showing geographic information for result objects such as ViolationCTG, LimitViol, TSResultEvent, TSLimitViolation, TSResultAnalysisSignal, TSResultAnalysisViolation Fields will show values for Geography-related fields such as Branch LineLength, and various Latitude/Longitude fields for objects for which results are being reported.
    • With PWCaseInformation object type added CountContingency field to show the total number of defined contingencies.
    • Added PowerFactor as a generator field.
    • Added generator fields to provide information about the reactive capability curve for a generator: Maximum of Mvar Max, Maximum of Mvar Min, Minimum of Mvar Max, Minimum of Mvar Min, MW Max, and MW Min.
    • Changes to the plot columns functionality to implement 1) so the first selected column always starts with the black color [this avoids the annoying issue of getting a yellow initial curve], and 2) provide an option to only plot every nth point to make it easier to get a quick plot if there are lots of values.
    • User choices about hiding/showing Case Info Toolbar, Searchbar, and Filterbar are stored as part of the Windows registry settings
  • Contingency Analysis
    • Auto Insert option for Primary Contingencies was added to the CTG Combo Analysis tool
    • When reading a ContingencyElement from AUX files and the Object referred to by the ContingencyElement is not found, a special “Unlinked” ContingencyElement is created and can be viewed in the user interface. For users not familiar with this feature however a warning message in the log is a helpful reminder to go look for these unlinked elements. These log messages have been added.
    • Added log message when a ContingencyElement becomes unlinked because the object to which it was referencing was deleted.
    • Advanced filtering of rows is now supported for Contingency Violation Matrices.
    • When sorting the Contingency object type by the count of any type of violation, any contingencies that have been processed and are Unsolved will be treated as the highest value in the sort order so that when sorting in descending order they will always appear at the top. They will always appear at the bottom when sorting in ascending order.
    • The contingency element identifier for a branch that is part of a multi-section line will no longer contain the section number for OPEN or CLOSE actions. This section number with OPEN and CLOSE actions has always been ignored when loading an aux file and this resulted in the actions appearing different if comparing based on the identifying string. For OPEN and CLOSE actions, the section number does not matter because the action is applied to all sections in the multi-section line.
    • When using the auto-insert contingencies to insert by “bus groupings”, we will now name the new contingencies created by the buses that remained connected but are on the edge of the grouping of buses being isolated. Previously we named the contigency after the buses that were on the edge but inside the group being isolated.
    • Prior to running any contingency analysis or combo contingency analysis related functionality any islands created because of the option to “dynamically add/remove slack buses as topology is changed” will become permanent islands. This is to prevent the islands from being removed if a full contingency solution is done and the “dynamically add/remove…” option is not used. It is assumed that the topology that exists prior to any contingency analysis is the desired topology.
    • Added CriteriaCheckOnce field with RemedialActionElements. Set this to YES if the Model Criteria should only be checked once during the process of applying Remedial Action Elements in response to contingency actions (model criteria is evaluated with TOPOLOGYCHECK, POSTCHECK, or SOLUTIONFAIL status). If the criteria is not met, this action will not be implemented and the criteria will not be evaluated again. The Persistent field is ignored when this is set to YES. The action will not be implemented and the Model Criteria will not be evaluated again for a Model Criteria that is met but the Time Delay is greater than the Time Delays of other actions whose Model Criterias are also met. This option has no impact if the Model Criteria is not defined.
    • Added a “Selected” filtering option to the result objects in the Contingency Combination Analysis dialog.
    • Added new field with Contingency object type called RemedialActionApplied that indicates if at least one remedial action element was implemented for the contingency. Valid entries are Yes, No, and Blank. If left blank then no information is known about whether or not a remedial action element was implemented.
    • Added new field with ContingencyPrimary and CTGComboResults objects called RemedialActionApplied. This field will indicate if at least one remedial action element was applied for a Primary contingency for the ContingencyPrimary object. With the CTGComboResults object this field indicates if at least one remedial action element was applied after the secondary contingency was applied when reported with the CTGComboResults object.
    • Added local menu options on Custom Monitor case information display found on the Contingency Analysis dialog to Save As > Auxiliary File (all related info) and Save As > Auxiliary File (all related/only selected records). These options will save the custom monitors along with any Advanced Filters and other dependent objects needed to define the monitors.
    • Added a new option on the Other menu in Contingency Analysis dialog under Other\Manage Contingency Definitions\Delete Contingencies with Identical Actions. This will delete a Contingency object if it contains the identical list of ContingencyElements as another contingency. The contingency with a Name that is first in an alphabetic sort will be maintained.
    • Added script command CTGSort([SortFieldList]) that will sort the list of contingencies in the data structure that stores the contingencies internally in Simulator. This is different than sorting the contingencies in a case information display. Using this command is useful when using the options to Join Active Contingencies and a sorted ordered is desired when forming new contingencies. The [SortFieldList] parameter is optional and if not specified the list will be sorted in ascending order by contingency name. The SortFieldList parameter is in the format [variablename1:+:0, variablename2:-:1] that is a list of fields by which the list should be sorted, the sort order, and the case sensitivity (ABS for numbers).
    • Added new option to the CTG_AutoInsert_Options called FilterOnlyLineXFSeries. Choosing this option will cause the auto-insert contingencies tool to only insert branches that have BranchDeviceType = Line, Transformer, or Series Cap. This option also exists as a checkbox on the Auto Insert Contingencies dialog.
  • Difference Case
    • Added Difference Case support for GICXFormers.
    • Added Difference Case support for WeatherStation.
    • Modified to remove trailing zeros when showing comparisons of Present|Base on Transient Stability Models.
    • Added support in the Difference Case tool for the DistributionEquivalent transient models.
  • Distributed Computing
    • Added Verify Computers button on dialogs for tools that use distributed computing.
    • When running Distributed TS, if a contingency does not solve, the ReasonNotSolved is added to the Simulator log.
  • Fault Analysis
    • Greatly increased the speed of calculating bus faults on a long list of faults.
  • File Formats
    • PSS/E RAW file generator records will be written out with WMOD = 1 when the FuelType =SUN (Solar) OR Unit Type = PV (Photovoltaic) within Simulator
    • PSS/E RAW file version 35 support
    • PSLF EPC version 23 support
    • When reading an EPC file, the ID field for Breaker data will be used as the circuit ID for the breaker if the length of this field is 1 or 2. If the ID field is blank or greater than two characters, the circuit ID will be dynamically assigned. The ID field will always populate the EMS ID field in Simulator. When writing an EPC file, the ID field for Breaker data will be written using the EMS ID field if this is not blank. If this is blank the circuit ID field will populate the ID field in the EPC.
    • When writing an EPC file, the brktype field will be written based on the Branch Device Type specified in Simulator. When writing a Disconnect the EMS CBTyp field in Simulator will be used if it is not blank. The brktype field in an EPC file has more options for different types of disconnects that are only identfied as Disconnects within Simulator and the EMS CBTyp field might contain a more specific type.
    • When reading a contingency OTG file, if there was a BUS or a SECDD command it was adding a contingency element that was skipped because it was added incorrectly. Now the bus command is going to be added as an unlinked element event so the user will know that we do not support that command. The SECDD command will add the correct branch contingency element event and will be solved (not skipped) during the contingency analysis run.
    • Added Primary field to specify which label specification should be used as the primary label with the custom Areva label definitions used with hdbexport files. This will be assigned when loading hdbexport files.
    • Modified the feature to “Save Known Fields in HDB Pattern File” so that it now write 4 files c:\FilePath\FileName.txt : list of object/fields for exporting a solved case c:\FilePath\FileNameCTG.txt : list of object/fields for exporting contingency definitions c:\FilePath\FileNameRAS.txt : list of object/fields for exporting the RAS definitions c:\FilePath\FileNameHdbexport.txt : Text file describing how to call the hdbexport command
    • Modified reading of RAW file records for Bus, Gen, Load, Line and Transformer so that if an extra field is at the end of a record which is not expected, then we will try to read this in as a memo or label.
    • Added ability to read/write the FuelType from the EPC file format. The integer codes in the EPC format are based on the WECC Data Preparation manual.
    • Added AREVAHDB CSV files to the file types that can be opened from the command line
    • Modified to write out EPC files with up to 32 characters for the substation names. An older version of PSLF only supported 12 characters.
    • Various modifications when loading an Areva hdbexport file and how fields are interpreted.
    • When reading a RAW file set the ‘Default’ Limit Set for contingency voltage rating set to B to match how bus specific limits are loaded; the Normal bus ratings are put in rating set A and the Contingency bus ratings are put in rating set B.
    • When writing out Zone data to RAW files, PowerWorld was truncating the zone names to 8 characters. PowerWorld will now truncate to 12 characters instead to match the limitation in the RAW file format.
    • Modified reading of CP records from hdbexport CSV files when VTARGET is not defined. We now set the RegHigh/RegLow = 1.4/0.6 for shunts and also set AutoControl = NO.
    • Added ‘Load Contingencies Complete’ and ‘Load RAS Complete’ log messages at the end of the hdbexport contingency and RAS import routines.
    • Can load GMD data that is part of an EPC file.
    • Added ability to read ND outages from the CTGL records of the Areva HDBEXPORT CSV files for contingency definitions.
    • When reading transformer records in the EPC file will now recognize a negative “type” as an indication that control on this device is disabled.
    • When writing out transformers to an EPC file, if transformer is Fixed we will now always write type = 1. PowerWorld has a separate field indicating if a transformer’s control is enabled and if it’s disabled we write a negative sign on the type. However in EPC file type=1 means there is no control at all, so writing a -1 is strange as it means the transformer’s control is disabled, but it has no control anyway. To avoid confusion, we just write a 1 instead.
  • General
    • Areas and zones for Area/Zone/Owner/DataMaintainer filters now allow a nominal kV range to be specified. The nominal kV of objects must be in this range to meet the filter.
    • Voltage Conditioning tool allows modifying power flow case to meet voltage schedules at buses or substations
    • Weather-dependent limits for branches and generators
    • Added to the Quick Power Flow list local menu support for bus and substation views, and bus and substation spatial views.
    • Added Length function that can be used with Custom Expressions and Model Expressions. This function takes a string as a parameter and returns an integer.
    • Added a new dialog to allow loading supplemental data from an external CSV. The new dialog allows the user to choose which values to read from the CSV, and what supplemental data fields to assign them to.
    • Modified the Long Line Voltage Profile tool to also show the Current [Amp] profile across the length of the line as well.
    • Added saving the shortcut definitions to the registry when the shortcuts dialog is closed
    • Modified option objects in the list of ObjectTypes so that they appear under the Options and Options By Value folder and then also under the respective tool if appropriate. For example the Contingency Options will appear under the folder Contingency\Options.
    • Modified the LimitSet object so that it can have CustomFloat, CustomInteger, CustomString field specified with it. Also modified so that it can support labels
    • Added to the General File Browser the newer *.docx, *.xlsx and *.pptx formats. Group these together with similar types: DOC|DOCX, XLS|XLSX, and PPT|PPTX. Allow the pipe symbol, |, to be used to group a list of extensions together. This can be used when defining custom file extensions.
  • GIC
    • Added support for EMP E1 load impact modeling.
    • Added Bus GIC field to show the GIC related losses allocated to the bus. These include the losses from the implicit GSUs and the other transformers. To avoid double counting the explicit transformer losses, the losses are allocated to the transformer’s from bus only.
    • GIC electric field magnitude and angle are now shown on the substation information dialog.
    • GIC related support in system states so that the state restores correctly when GIC changes have been made.
    • On GICs added the ability to stretch the b3d data points.
    • The code that calculates the substation and line electric field values for the non-uniform fields is more efficient. This should make the Setup Time Varying Series function faster (which is called whenever a b3d file is loaded).
    • For B3D files the comments can now be edited and saved in a new b3d file.
    • GIC ribbon group on the Add Ons ribbon tab now has option to Load and Save GMD even if the user does not have the GIC add-on.
    • Modified the script command GICLoad3DEfield to include an option to setup the Time-VaryingSeries on Load. The script now looks like this: GICLoad3DEfield(FileType, CoarseFile, SetupTVSOnLoad); SetupTVSOnLoad is not optional and is a YES/NO option and default is false.
    • Added script command to clear time varying electric field inputs: GICTimeVaryingElectricFieldsDeleteAllTimes. This is equivalent to clicking ‘Clear All Time Points’ on the time varying electric field input tab.
  • Oneline Diagrams
    • Spatial View Onelines for automatically creating geographic onelines for buses and substations
    • KML Import now reads lines and points that are not in the PowerWorld format. Made the option when importing a KML file to add the Points as Ellipse, Squares, or Triangles. This option is only used when loading a KML file that is not in the PowerWorld format.
    • Added GIC field to Geographic Data View Line Summary Objects.
    • Added support for Geographic Data View two field rectangle objects. These are similar to the kites, except using rectangles. The objection are either top and bottom values, or left and right values.
    • Added fields to the Case Information Memo Field oneline object to allow for a prefix and/or a suffix.
    • Added Geographic Data View support for weather objects.
    • Increased the number of decimal places to 6 when showing the x,y values in the zoom dialog in lon, lat values.
    • Added direct support for GIC flow visualization with Animated Flows options. Dual display of MWs and GICs is also supported.
    • Added support for additional Geographic Data View display lines.
    • When right-clicking on multiple display objects that are on top of each other, the user will be given the choice of which object is selected. Added Oneline Visualization option “Edit Mode Right-Click Prompt for Objects at Same Location” that will allow you to disable the prompt that allows you to choose from a list of multiple objects if right-clicking on a oneline where there are multiple display objects on top of each other. This option only works in edit mode and in run mode you will always be prompted to choose from a list. This option is only stored in the registry and cannot be modified through an aux file.
    • Added a fix to the issue of contours bleeding into the background (usually water) of a oneline. The contour option to “Do Not Show Contour on Background and Borders” prevents the bleeding. This option is stored with the Oneline Display Options but is also available on the contour dialog.
    • Added new features under the Auto Insert drop-down on the Draw tab to automatically insert Area, Zone, Owner, and InjectionGroup display objects on a oneline diagram. The locations will be determined by look at the new Latitude/Longitude values for these objects now available on the case information displays.
    • Added a new right-click option, Open Model Explorer, on oneline display objects to bring up the model explorer and navigate to the object.
    • Added a right-click option, Show Data View, on oneline display objects to open the data view for the object.
    • Added new contouring color maps.
    • Modified the Select By Criteria feature for oneline objects so it can use the Area/Zone/Owner/DataMaintainer filtering.
    • Added an option in the Edit Mode right Click menu for display object to move objects to Geographical Coordinates. The option works with Buses, Gens, Loads, Switched Shunts and Substations. The Gen, Loads and Switched Shunts will look for the terminal Bus Geographical Information. If the Bus, Terminal Gen Bus, Terminal Load Bus or Terminal Switched Shunt Bus do not have Geographical coordinates then it will look for the Substation Geographical Information (if the objects belongs to a Substation).
    • On the contour dialog, replaced the ComboBox dropdown for choosing a color map with a much nicer drop-down that open a foldered view of color maps along with a preview as you choose the color map.
    • Added a new contour method based on the nearest data point.
    • When defining filters for display objects, a device filter in the syntax of “<DEVICE>objecttype ‘key1’ ‘key2’ ‘key3′” will now work when filtering the display object type by data objects of supported types. This means that a DisplayBus can be filtered by a particular Bus object as well as the other types of objects that are supported. This syntax was already supported by filtering a display object by its own type, i.e., DisplayBus by DisplayBus.
    • Cursor Contour Value on contour color key shows the value currently under the cursor.
    • Contour Value Metrics have been added to the contour color key.
    • Contour color key dialog has fields to update the size and position of the dialog.
    • Saved oneline views can store the contour color key location and size.
    • Background lines can optionally have arrows at either end of the line.
    • Added Geographic Data View option for Pruning to Only Contour Pruned Values.
    • Added option to Case Information Memo Field to show the simulation time with seconds
  • Optimal Power Flow
    • When choosing whether to enforce limits on an interface in the OPF solution, we ensure that at least one element of the interface is configured to be enforce limits and that at least one device belongs to an area which is on OPF control. This check was also considering the status on branches that were assigned as a BRANCHOPEN or BRANCHCLOSE event. We have modified so that the checking of status on BRANCHOPEN and BRANCHCLOSE devices is no longer considered.
  • Powerflow Solution
    • PowerFlow Weather (PFW) generator models
    • When determining the Setpoint Voltage Tolerance to use with generators regulating voltage, only generators with an available AVR range can be used for selecting the tolerance. If no range is available the tolerance will be 0.
    • For cases with bad input data such that generators at the same bus have different voltage setpoints, PowerWorld would just take the last generator’s setpoint value. This has been modified so it will take the setpoint of the generator with the largest (MvarMax – MvarMin) value instead.
  • PV QV Curves
    • When running a QV curve at a bus, SVCs that are remotely regulating that bus are now turned off control. SVCs should be treated the same as generators that are remotely regulating the curve bus and need to be turned off control to not conflict with the fictitious generator. When a contingency or base case cannot solve and the fictitious generator is used to try to make them solve, switched shunts and SVCs at the curve bus are now turned off control and SVCs that are remotely regulating the curve bus are turned off control. These need to be turned off so that they do not conflict with the voltage setpoint of the fictitious generator.
    • PV tool options are now stored with the PWB file so it no longer makes sense to initialize the tool with options based on the power flow solution. This was only being done with the option to enforce generator MW limits during injection group ramping, but it was causing confusion because it was overriding the option as it was set with the PVCurve_Options object.
    • With plot definition, added feature when automatically determining the vertical axis scale to force the Minimum value to be greater than the Minimum specified. This allows the automatic scaling to ignore values that are zero for example. Also added similar feature to force the Maximum value to be less than the Maximum specified.
    • For a PlotSeries add two new options for a “Scale” and “Offset”. When using these the Actual Value on the plot will be (y-Offset)*Scale.
    • Prior to running PV or QV analysis any islands created because of the option to “dynamically add/remove slack buses as topology is changed” will become permanent islands. This is to prevent the islands from being removed if the “dynamically add/remove…” option is not used with different sets of options. It is assumed that the topology that exists prior to any PV or QV analysis is the desired topology.
    • Added new field with QVCurve objects called RemedialActionApplied. This field will indicate if at least one remedial action element was applied for the contingency.
    • Added new field with PWPVResultListContainer objects called RemedialActionApplied. This field will indicate if at least one remedial action element was applied for the contingency.
    • Added a readonly edit box on the Auto-Save Plot portion settings on the Plot Designer to show the folder location to which these files will be stored.
  • Scheduled Actions
    • New format for reading outages called the “PowerWorld Outage CSV File”
  • Sensitivity Analysis
    • Loss Sensitivity calculation now has options for which Loss Reference to use when the Loss Function is Island, Area, or Super Area.
    • Modified the bus fields shown by default of the Self-Sensitivity tab of the Sensitivities\Flows and Voltage dialog. Negative Reactance Lines: this will now return NO if a neighbor branch has a negative X but this branch connects to the internal star bus of the equivalent of a three-winding transformer. The Star bus itself will still say YES, but the terminals of the three-winding transformer will return NO. Likely Alternative Solution Fields: These fields will now return YES if a terminal of a three-winding transformer has a negative dV/dQ even if the connection to the star bus has a negative X.
  • Time Step Simulation
    • Greatly improved including aux file support
    • Ability to store and restore the full power system “state” making it easier to see results, resolve time points, and make visualizations including movies
    • Integrated support with weather modeling
    • There is now an option to change (shift) all the time points. This is an enhancement to the previous functionality that only allowed changing the time at a single timepoint. The old and new functionality is still available in the Time Step right-click menu by selecting Time Point Records, Change Timepoint Time.
    • In the time domain simulation added new feature to allow time to run backwards. This is useful in the common situation in which a time series is initialized from a time that does not correspond to the starting time. For example, a peak case might be used to initialize at say 4pm, then time can be run backward.
    • Added a new Interpolate Timepoints Options page to make it easy to create new interpolated time points based on an original set of time points.
    • Added option to just apply the data. This allows users to quickly see the results of applying weather to various models. Also added Bus Group Gen Max MW fields by generic fuel types to provide quick summaries of weather impacts over longer time periods.
    • Added options when entering time points to specify the time/date using UTC. This will probably be most useful for weather.
    • Added Substations and DC Lines to time domain saved fields.
    • Added option to Show Result Analysis form with time step simulation results.
  • Topology Processing
    • Added a new field to a bus called “PriorityDefault” that shows the default priority used for topology processing when choosing the primary node.
  • Transient Stability
    • Automatically create plots that have a violation based on Transient Limit Monitor or Transient Limit Logic
    • “MW Nominal Tripped” field for loads. This value will also be recorded for Areas and Zones as a field.
    • Option to Auto Insert Loads (only opening loads) for Transient Contingencies
    • Option to “Include Category in Plot Name” as a prefix for plot names when auto-saving plots. If Category is blank and the option is selected, an underscore, “_”, will appear in the plot name.
    • TSRunResultAnalyzer(ContingencyName) script command that runs the Transient Result Analyzer. If the ContingencyName is not specified the analysis will be run for all contingencies.
    • Limit Monitors now have an option to use Cumulative Time to determine when a violation occurs. When this option is used, the cumulative time for which the monitored value exceeds the limit value will be used to determine if the limit time duration is met for considering this to be a violation. When this option is not used, the timer for determining if the limit duration is met is reset when the monitored value is no longer exceeding the limit value.
    • TSDisableMachineModelNonZeroDerivative(DerivativeThreshold) script command that will look for the derivatives of all transient stability models for generators. If the absolute value of any of the state variables for a particular generator is greater than the DerivativeThreshold, the machine model for the generator is disabled. If the DerivativeThreshold is not specified, 0.001 is used.
    • Transformers are a separate entry in Object Types to Include in the Save to Hard Drive Options
    • Weighted Average Rotor Speed result field for injection groups. This is the sum of generator speed multiplied by Weight divided by the sum of Weights. The intention is to set the Weights to be H (inertia) of the generators. The Weights/inertia are set in the Participation Factors of the injection group.
    • Added a button on the Model Explorer when showing transient stability models called “Parameter Descriptions”. This button is adjacent to the “Show Block Diagram” button that was already there. When clicking on Parameter Descriptions button a dialog will appear listing all the dynamic model input parameters for the class of model being shown, along with the description of those fields. This is the same description that appears in the hover hints when moving the mouse over the column headers as well as the string that appears in the Export Case Object Fields option from the Window Tab in Simulator.
    • Made TS Power Flow States Playback Dialog non-modal so the user can modify the oneline when it is open.
    • Added injection group contingency action to open or close all devices in the injection group.
    • Added Interface Open and Close commands contingency actions. These commands open or close all the branches in the interface.
    • Added option “For Radial Generators Trips Also Open the GSU”.
    • Added the ability to make plots from Result Analyzer Signal Violations. See “Make New Plot…” in the right-click local menu.
    • Increased number of states that can be plotted for a VSC DC Line model
    • For Transient Contingency Element added three fields to show action parameters.
    • When selecting a Transient Contingency to Skip, all fields in the entire row will gray out. This will help the user visually identify the skipped contingencies.
    • Added frequency test signals that can be applied as events either to 1) individual generators, 2) all generators in an area, 3) all generators in an injection group, or 4) all the case generators. The test signal just modifies the generator speed value. This change can either be discrete or sinusoidal.
    • When performing a validation check for most values in transient stability against a minimum limit PowerWorld had a 0.000001 tolerance we checked against. For some situation this tolerance was too small. For example a user may run auto-correction against time constants the are required to be 4 times the 0.25 cycle times timestep which we would calculated as 1/240 * 4 = 0.0166666667 seconds. If a time constant was smaller than this we would round it up to exactly that time constant. However if the user then changed the contingency to use a timestep of 0.004167 seconds (we store timestep in second out to microsecond precision), then the required minimum timestep was 4*0.004167 = 0.016668 seconds. That means that the previously auto-corrected timestep was no “too small” because 0.0166666667 < 0.016668. Thus the value is too low by 0.0000013333 seconds which is just slighly above the old tolerance we have. This has been changed so the tolerance is now 0.05% of the limit, so in this case the tolerance if 0.0166666667*0.0005 = 0.0000083333 (so just over 8 microseconds). This slightly larger tolerance will scale appropriately for all situations.
    • When saving Transient Contingencies as an Aux file it will also save the Transient Contingency Elements. This was not done before when saving from the Multiple Contingency table.
    • Added an Event message for DISTRELAY models to say which Zone number activated the relay.
    • With plot definition, added feature when automatically determining the vertical axis scale to force the Minimum value to be greater than the Minimum specified. This allows the automatic scaling to ignore values that are zero for example. Also added similar feature to force the Maximum value to be less than the Maximum specified.
    • Added “Include In Tripped Amount” field with transient contingency element to indicate whether generation or load MW that gets opened should be included in the Summary Results for Tripped Generation and Load.
    • Generation and load MW that gets tripped due to an injection group transient contingency can now be included in the Summary Results for Tripped Generation and Load.
    • Modified documentation of Vramp and Cramp parameters of the CDC4 and CDC6 type DC Line models in case information displays to reflect that they are in the units of pu/sec.
    • TSValidation object type is now available to return all validation messages. The Category field indicates if a message is an Error, Warning, or Info. This object type can be filtered and saved to file but nothing can be loaded back in.
    • TSState object type is now available to return all transient stability states. This object type can be filtered and saved to file but nothing can be loaded back in.
    • Added TSInitialize script command that will initialize the transeint stability solution. This can take one optional parameter CheckAlreadyInitialized that is NO by default. If YES the initialization will not be done if it has already been done. This script command is necessary if using the new TSState object type to return initial states through scripting.
    • Added TSValidate script command that will run transient stability validation.
    • For a PlotSeries add two new options for a “Scale” and “Offset”. When using these the Actual Value on the plot will be (y-Offset)*Scale.
    • TSClearAllModels script command will now delete Load Distribution Equivalents.
    • Added new “psuedo-energy” calculation for the Transient Result Analyzer to calculate an Energy for each TSResultAnalyzerModeMagAng and then the summation of this across all signals for the TSResultAnalyzerMode.
    • In the Transient Stability Plot tool, the names of the plots and plot series was modified to eliminate the use of “\” character. In the “\” character which is considered an escape character, hence it was eliminated and substitute with a “_” character. Example: “Gen_App Imp\R” will now look like this “Gen_App Imp_R”
    • Added Negative Load Models for Generators without Models options of Constant Current and Constant Impedance.
    • For truly bad input data on synchronous machine models, checks on (Xqpp > Xqp) could conflict with checks on the ratio of (Xqpp/Xdpp). Modified the auto-correction routines in these situations to just leave the Xqpp value alone and return an error to force the user to go correct these models.
    • The option to “Save Transient Stability Data -> Only Records Modified in Difference Case” will now use the Area/Zone filters.
    • Added TSTransferStateToPowerFlow script command.
    • Allow the generic object types that show the listing of all transient stability models of a particular type to be accessed through auxiliary and script commands for listing, filtering, and deleting objects. Objects cannot be modified through these generic object types.
    • Added ability to use Custom Expressions and Custom String Expressions with transient stability model object types.
    • Added a readonly edit box on the Auto-Save Plot portion settings on the Plot Designer to show the folder location to which these files will be stored.
    • Modified TSValidation object so they can show the DataMaintainer of the underlying model object.
    • Added a new field to a TSLimitMonitor called SeveritySort. Set to either ValueTime, ValueStartTime, ValueExtremeTime, ValueExtreme, or ValueExtremeConv. These refer to fields of a TSLimitMonitorViolation. When deciding which TSLimitMonitorViolation objects to keep once the MaxViolStore count is reached, this sort field determines which violations to keep. Default value is ValueTime which means that the first violation encountered are kept. Setting to ValueExtreme for example if you’re tracking low voltages would give the buses that experienced the lowest voltage during the simulation (as long as they met the criteria for a violation).
    • TSModalAnalysisSignal object type can update fields through pasting from Excel or aux files. The signal itself must already exist and cannot be created this way.
    • Added ability to scale a mode’s, TSGlobalModeResult object type, average value by a term, that tells how the signal decays, Damping Scalar.
    • With Modal Analysis, improved mode visualization by allowing angles to be shifted based on a specified signal value. Also added signal numbers for a quick way to identify signals.
    • Added transient contingency elements to change all generator angles and speeds in an area or injection group by a specified amount.
    • Changed so when inserting a new TS event by right-clicking on an existing event and choosing Insert, the new event will default to the same object (and hence object type) of the existing event. Other fields will be defaults in an attempt to distinguish this as a new event and not an edit of the existing event.
    • Modified the PlayIn signals so that when they are initialized, if OffSet*Scale > 10 then we automatically calculate an offset to match the initial condition for the respective signal. This was done previously but was done only looking at Offset > 10, so if Scale was a very small number it could cause a problem.
    • Added the BusView option in the All States table. The bus view will only open if the selected object is a Generator, Switched Shunt, Load, or a Branch.
    • The following models were added:
      • Added new CompLoadMon measurement model
    • The following models were modified:
      • Modified the CMLD and CMLPDW model so that if a loading factor for a motor is set as 0.0, then we simply interpret as 1.0 instead. 0.0 causes divide by zero errors which don’t make sense.
      • Changed the voltage delay default for the CMPLDW on the single phase motor to avoid getting validation errors with the defaults.
      • Modified the hydro governor models HYGOV, HYGOVD, HYGOVR, HYPID, HYG3, and HYGOV4 models when initial limit violations occur because the Pmech output is higher than the combination of the inputs of Hdam (or H0), qnl, At, and the nonlinear Gate to Pgv block are able to achieve. When using the initial limit violation option to “Modify Limits and Run”, PowerWorld will now calculate a the higher value of Hdam necessary to achieve the Pmech output. Previously PowerWorld would change the At (turbine gain), but discussions with customers indicate it is more appropriate to modify Hdam instead.
      • Modified the WTGAR_A and WTARA1 models so that they can initialize to an initial pitch that is negative. This is an unusual configuration for models but should be allowed.
      • Modified the REGC_C machine model to include a new parameter Vpllfrz. The model will now freeze the PLL integrator state when the filtered terminal voltage is below Vdip.
      • Modified the new REGC_C model so that the network equations use the PLL angle for the network to model reference transformation. Previously the PLL angle was used for doing the transformation for modeling the current controls, but not the network equations.
      • The Q/P ratio reference input for REEC_A/B/C/D models can now be changed by using the setting the exciter setpoint during a dynamic simulation.
      • Modified the initialization of the H6E governor models to ensure they initialize to a flat start. Limitation in the gate position prevent the Pmech from being achieved are now handled by modifying the Hdam value instead for H6E. In addition, the initialization for the gate position was improved.
      • Default value of Trate for the H6E governor was 163 which was silly. The default is now 0.0 and means to use the generator MVABase which is what all other governors default to.
      • Modified PSS2C, PSS3C, PSS6C, and PSS7C stabilizers to include Tpgfilt parameter as a time constant for measuring Pgen for use in the PSS Output logic decisions. Added reading and writing this parameter from the DYD format.
      • For now, this change is affects only the UEL2 model. When a TS simulation is allowed to modify limits for initial limit violations, and if a UEL/OEL/SCL has Activation Status which is not equal to Idle (i.e 0) during Initialization, then it will NOT send a signal to exciter for the entire simulation. This will allow the exciter to initialize in steady state.
      • For the UCBGT and UCCPSS governor models, fixed the treatment of non-windup limits for the 3 states feeding into the Low Value Select block when the proportional gain is zero so that the integrator state would not windup. When Kp<>0 this was already handled.
      • Added LogModifiedStatusNotIdle to UEL2C
      • State 7 of PIIntegrator of UEL2C now reports PI output value instead of the internal state.
      • Modified the PSS2C, PSS3C, PSS6C, and PSS7C stabilizers to allow a “Compensated Frequency” calculation.
      • Modified the CDC1, CDC4T, CDC6, and CDC6T DC line models so that the Voltage-Dependent Current Order Limit (VDCOL) always uses the inverter DC voltage in kV.
      • Modified REGC_C so that the PLL integrator state from the Kipll/s block has non-windup limits of wmax/wmin. These were already limits on the output of the PI block, so this uses the same values as non-windup limit on the integrator state.
      • Added the ability to specify zone forward reach and angle with a percentage value for the following distance relay models: ZLIN1, ZQLIN1, OOSLEN, OOSLNQ
    • File formats
      • Added support to read and write GENQEC, PSS2C, OEL3C, and UEL1 transient models from a dyd file. The model were already available in PowerWorld.
      • Added support to read and write ESDC2C transient model from a dyd file.
      • Previously PowerWorld would write cmpldw model defined in PowerWorld at an aggregation level such as Bus, Load Model Group, Area, Zone, or Owner, we would always write out cmpldw models for individual load objects because this is the only thing that the DYD file supported. The DYD file now supports writing out a special “_cmpldw” model for load model groups, areas, zones, and owners, so we will write out these special “_cmpldw” models to DYD files.
      • Added the ability to read from a DYR file a PLNTBU1, REAX3BU1, REAX4BU1, SYNAXBU1, FCTAXBU1, and SWSAXBU1 models and convert them into an REPC_B plant controller model which controls multiple generators. PowerWorld Simulator will also write these models back out to a DYR file as this was added.
      • Cleaned up the look of how DYR files are written to remove unnecessary trailing 0s from numbers and remove lots of extra spaces in them. Each record is also written on a single line of text now instead of multiple lines.
      • Added support to read/write PSS2C Stabilizer for PSSE dyr files.
      • Added ability to read from DYR files the REPCC, REECD1, and WTGWGOA models.
      • Added ability to read from DYD files the REPC_C, REEC_D, and WTGWGO_A models.
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd and PSSE dyr file for Transient Stability Stabilizer models PSS6C and PSS7C.
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd and PSSE dyr file for Transient Stability models OEL2c and UEL2C.
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability models ESAC1C (AC1C in PW) and ESAC2C (AC2C in PW).
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability models ESAC3C (AC3C in PW), ESAC4C (AC4C in PW), ESAC5C (AC5C in PW) and ESAC6C (AC6C in PW).
      • Added support for read/write from the DYD file for the ESDC1C exciter model. This maps to the DC1C exciter.
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability model ESAC7C (AC7C in PW).
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability model ESAC9C (AC9C in PW).
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability model ESAC10C (AC10C in PW).
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability model ESST2C (ST2C in PW) and ESST3C (ST3C in PW).
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability model ESST7C (ST7C in PW).
      • Added support to read and write from a PSSE dyr file for Transient Stability model ST7C (ST7C in PW).
      • Added support to read and write from a PSLF dyd file for Transient Stability model ESST8C (ST8C in PW) and ESST9C (ST9C in PW).
      • Customers have reported that renewable dynamic machine models do not function when read from DYR models in other software if the power flow generator model flag WMOD do not set to a 1. When writing out a RAW file, if the WindControlMode in PowerWorld is set to none, then the generator WMOD field in the RAW file will be determined by the type of dynamic machine model used for the generator. For machine models that are for renewable machines (WT1G, WT2G, WT3G, WT4G, REGC*, PVD1, PV1G, and so on), the WMOD will be written as a 1 and for other generators the value will be a 0.
  • User Interface Dialogs
    • On the Super Area dialog a checkbox was added for the OPF option to Include Marginal Losses.
    • When pressing the Save To Aux button in the generator dialog, now it will also save the Reactive Capability curve in the aux file.
    • Added buttons to the Substation and Bus dialogs in both Edit and Run mode on the Geography tab to “Open Google Maps”. This button will automatically launch the default browser on the computer and open the Google maps website to the latitude/longitude coordinate on the respective dialog.
    • When choosing to Save to AUX on the Simulator Options Dialog, added a dialog that has check-boxes on it so you may choose which types of options to save. The choices are Solution, Environment, Simulation, Case Inof, Custom Colors, Areva Import Label Specs, and Oneline Browser Custom Menu.
    • Modified the General File Browser to allow searching for PDF, PPT, DOC, and XLS files as well. When right-clicking on these files to open them a standard Window call is made to open the file with whatever program is registered with Windows.
    • Modified the edit boxes showing the Branch MVA limits on the Branch dialogs to only show at most 7 significant digits for the MVA limits.
    • Save Filter button on Advanced Filters dialog will now save a separate data section for Condition rather than a SUBDATA section.
    • Added a caption in the Display/Column Options to include the name of the DataGrid. Now the Display/Column Options dialog caption will be like this: “Display/Column Options: ‘Name of DataGrid'”
    • In various places, such as the Advanced Filter dialog, the combo box that would show the list of available fields has been replaced with a drop-down treeview.
    • On Super Area dialog added summary information to show generation by fuel type.
    • Added new options to the right-click menu of a the Message Log to “For AUX load, add Log Message for Existing Objects Edited” and “For AUX load, add Log Message for New Objects Created”. These 2 options are NOT checked each time PowerWorld is opened, but can be checked to generate log messages for every edited object or for every created object as AUX files are loaded. Normally this is not wanted but can be useful to ensure you are not editing existing objects when you were not expecting to.
    • Added PowerFactor value to the Load Run Mode dialog.
    • On the Bus Voltage Regulating Devices dialog, added field to show if switched shunt is using the RegTargetVoltHigh value.
    • Added an indication on the About box if the license being used is a software or hardware license.
  • Weather
    • Weather Station object containing various weather related measurements
    • Weather-dependent limits for branches and generators
    • Time Step Simulation using historic weather data
    • Power Flow Weather (PFW) generator models