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High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems enable utilities to move more power further, efficiently integrate renewables, interconnect grids, and improve network performance. HVDC systems utilize power electronics technology to convert AC and DC voltage and are ideal for supporting existing systems or building new power highways.

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GE Vernova provides solutions that offer grid operators the ability to provide reactive power support, enhance controllability, improve stability and increase power transfer capability of AC transmission systems.

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GE Vernova offers solutions for a variety of substation projects and applications, including Modular Substation Automation Systems, utility and industrial substation projects, as well as DC substation solutions.

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The energy landscape today is changing, this is being led by the current industry trends of Decarbonization, Digitization, Decentralization and Electrification. Discover how GE Vernova is working with utility, consumer and industrial customers to design and deploy tailored Microgrid and Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Management solutions.

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Innovations to Decarbonize the Electrical Grid. GRiDEA is our portfolio of decarbonization solutions that empower grid operators to address their net-zero objectives.

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GE Vernova offers a wide range of transformer solutions for the utility, industrial, commercial, residential and energy markets. These solutions feature flexible, reliable and robust designs to support a wide range of applications. With units operating in some of the most demanding electrical environments around the world, We design and delivers transformer solutions that provide among the highest level of performance and reliability to meet rigorous operating requirements.

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GE Vernova provides GIS solutions from 50 kV to 800 kV, along with secondary products to maximize switchgear and network operation. The portfolio includes a full range of SF6 GIS as well as g3 (SF6-free) GIS at 145 kV and 420 kV voltage levels for utilities and industries worldwide.

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GE Vernova is one of the top circuit breaker suppliers in the world. Our products include a range of live tank circuit breakers (up to 800 kV), dead tank circuit breakers (up to 550 kV), as well as hybrid and compact switchgear assemblies. We also provide solutions for power generation applications with our generator circuit breakers for installations up to 1,500 MW.

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GE Vernova is a global market leader for disconnectors (disconnect switches) since 1960, with 8 product facilities in 7 countries and hundreds of thousands installations in more than 130 countries around the world. The portfolio includes disconnectors for AC applications (up to 1,200 kV), for DC applications (up to 1,000 kV) and for railway applications. We also offer power connectors to connect two or more conductors for a continuous electrical path.

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GE Vernova is an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of high, medium and low voltage instrument transformers. With more than 100 years of experience, We offer a broad array of standard and high accuracy models for revenue metering and system protection applications. The portfolio of instrument transformers ranges from low voltage at 600 V suitable for industrial and high accuracy revenue metering, all the way up to high voltage at 1,200 kV. The portfolio also includes line traps and digital instrument transformers.

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For a century, utilities have relied on us to deliver electrical products and services to meet their quality, durability and performance needs. Our capacitor and reactor product lines are an integral part of our portfolio. GE Vernova provides power capacitors that meet ANSI, IEEE and IEC standards, and our low voltage capacitors are UL listed. Ratings range from 1 kvar to 500 MVAR, and from 240 volts to 500 KV.

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GE Vernova provides a broad range of bushings and surge arresters to help protect electrical assets. The bushings portfolio includes AC and DC solutions that enable long life, high reliability and installation flexibility. GE’s Tranquell surge arresters are ideal for distribution and EHV applications up to 612kV, and are available as polymer and porcelain station and intermediate class IEEE/ANSI C62.11.

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Our SF₆-free switchgear range features the same ratings and same dimensional footprint as the state-of-the-art SF₆ equipment, with a drastically reduced carbon footprint.

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The collection of required asset condition data from the field on a large scale for GE Vernova and 3rd party electrical equipment is a key step in building a robust Asset Performance Management strategy. Grid Services specialists are constantly evaluating and implementing new innovative inspection technologies applying strict processes and methods. The digital inspections methods are designed to improve the efficiency of data collection, oil analysis and online monitoring. All new approaches to capture data are integrated into the EnergyAPM ecosystem for automatic data transfer.

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Energy costs are significant expenses for utilities and industries at large, particularly those that are energy-intensive or operate heavy machinery. Between 5% and 25%* of the expenses in these organizations are allocated to energy payments, with up to 15%** of this energy consumption being wasted during operations.

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GE Vernova offers a wide range of solutions to monitor and manage critical assets on the electrical grid, detect and diagnose issues and provide expert information and services to customers. Our asset monitoring and diagnostics portfolio includes solutions for single- and multi-gas transformer DGA, enhanced transformer solutions and switchgear monitoring, as well as software and services.

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GE Vernova's Grid Solutions business electrifies the world with advanced grid technologies and systems, enabling power transmission and distribution from the grid to homes, businesses, and industries effieciently and reliably.

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GridBeats™ is a portfolio of software-defined automation solutions for grid digitalization. The portfolio is designed to enable utilities and industrial customers to ensure a stable, efficient energy supply amidst the growing integration of renewable energy sources and aging infrastructure.

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GE Vernova's Critical Infrastructure Communications solutions deliver comprehensive networks that are designed to be secure, flexible, and tailored to meet customers' objectives and unique geographic requirements.

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GE Vernova's comprehensive portfolio of solutions for implementing and managing a substation.

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GE Vernova's Asset Lifecycle Management services combine a large set of methodologies to collect condition data off and online, consulting and asset optimization services using digital technology to improve the monitoring, recording and analysis of asset operations and predict asset behavior.

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GE’s innovative and high-quality services help maintain and optimize high-voltage electrical assets throughout their entire lifecycle. Leveraging the design and manufacturing knowledge of our engineers, the customized service solutions ensure substations and networks perform as planned. Experts deliver services for applications across the power system, keeping assets up-to-date, safe, reliable and efficient while improving customers’ return-on-investment.

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GE Vernova provides a full range of services & support tailored to meet a broad range of power system needs across utility and industrial applications. With deep domain knowledge and industry expertise GE’s service application engineers and technical specialists can help plan, design, operate, maintain, and modernize your protection, control, monitoring and automation systems.

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GE Vernova provides comprehensive services throughout the systems lifecycle. The services can be provided by our local team and with the support of our global Competence Centers when the equipment is installed, during the warranty period and beyond.

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Our technical experts are ready to equip customers with the knowledge needed to effectively manage their critical assets and systems, and increase their return on product investments. Our training courses are offered in a variety of ways, including online, onsite at customer locations, and in our state-of-the art training centers around the world.

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GE Vernova's Grid Solutions' Testing Laboratories enable manufacturers and end users to test their primary equipment by leveraging deep domain expertise and testing facilities, to develop enhanced high voltage products and certify their capabilities before market introductions.

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GE Vernova delivers materials and eco-design studies for high voltage solutions to accelerate insulation and environmental innovation. GE’s services provide the expertise and methods that enable new value to support customer engineering, sourcing, quality control and EHS activities.

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With the rapid digitalization of the grid, utility, power generation and industrial operators require cybersecurity solutions to monitor and protect grid asset and systems from increased severity and frequency of cyber attacks. GE Vernova adopted a “defense in depth” approach, providing innovative cybersecurity solutions designed to increase operational integrity, comply with regulations and control costs of security.

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Utilities today seek to create and connect new sources of power generation to meet growing global demand, while also managing grid reliability, costs and regulatory factors.

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Water is central not just to the economy, but to life. As a result, water treatment systems demand secure, dependable power to ensure process uptime. From the grid-connected substation to reliable electrical protection, control, and power quality metering, GE Vernova offers tailored solutions to keep critical plants operational and meet the unique needs of the water and wastewater industry.

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As power systems become increasingly interconnected and complex, utilities need solutions that optimize energy transmission and management while improving reliability.

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Data centers – and the information they store – are becoming increasingly integral to the way we live our lives every day. With rising demand also come rising costs. And more importantly, the information in these centers must remain secure while simultaneously accessible. We provide data centers with electrical infrastructure solutions from the input utility source to the IT server racks. This includes high-voltage switchgear and transformers, medium and low voltage electrical equipment, automatic transfer switches, switchboards, UPS systems, critical power PDUs, static transfer switches, and overhead busway. This chain of electrification products provides high quality and reliable products and services for the entire lifecycle of a data center.

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The oil and gas industry is evolving at a rate never seen before, facing shifting pricing levels, ever-changing regulatory requirements, and increased environmental consciousness. Through reliable, safe, and innovative solutions and a holistic service offering, GE Vernova can help the energy sector thrive in this changing reality.

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Modernizing and digitizing the distribution grid is imperative for utilities and customers to enhance power system stability and safety, while increasingly integrating distributed power and demand response.

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The industry is changing. Simultaneously, so are your utility’s needs. Operational effectiveness, power stability, and critical asset management are key priorities – whether in pulp and paper, steel, or data centers. GE’s holistic portfolio of products and services are designed with reliability, innovation, and sustainability at the forefront, helping you face the energy transition with ease.

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Mining companies require secure communications, efficient asset performance management, and dependable, innovative technology to protect their critical assets. GE Vernova offers a broad product portfolio to help you through each step of the mining process – safely and reliably.

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Engineering & Consulting

Real-Time Digital Simulation Services

Home > Services > Automation & Protection Services > Engineering & Consulting > RTDS Services

  
Real-Time Digital Simulation (RTDS)

Real-Time Digital Simulation (RTDS) has emerged as a crucial technology in the face of the evolving challenges that the electrical grid faces, such as the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs), better grid resilience, smart grid technologies, and the demand for electric vehicles (EVs). We support customers with our four dedicated RTDS laboratories to ensure reliable and robust grid operations during and after disruptive events through the following services:

  • Audit of existing protection settings modeling the electrical power system in scope to have the most realistic transient scenarios and verification of new protection relays like line, busbar, and transformer differential elements that can be tested in a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environment to assure proper performance and coordination on all types of fault scenarios including evolving and cross-country faults Playback testing can also be performed to check setting modification based on historical fault libraries from the customer.
  • Validation of new protection algorithms that require a fine-tuning based on transient stability studies, like islanding detection protection, high-speed falling conductor protection, or high-impedance protection.
  • Testing of special protection schemes like Remedial Action Schemes (RAS) or Wide-Area Monitoring, Protection, and Control (WAMPAC) systems thanks to the capability for multiple injection points and communication protocol simulation with PMU and IEC 61850 data.
  • Grid Compliance Tests for new power generation assets connected to the grid can be performed through RTDS while power plant controllers and protection elements are tested at the same time in an HIL environment. System Impact and Transient Studies are performed in real-time to analyze the dynamic behavior of the asset and to ensure low-voltage ride-through, harmonics emission, and power quality. performance.

Key Benefits

  • HIL testing in a real-time EMTP environment after electrical power modeling provides an efficient way to ensure protection system performance under most realistic conditions, leading to more efficient and time-saving solutions.
  • Extensive testing scenarios are run through in automatic mode.
  • Interoperability with external systems can be tested due to PMU and IEC 61850 simulation capabilities.
Overview

Overview
Use Cases

Overview

The RTDS can simulate the electrical power system in real-time. Powerful processors work in parallel to simulate the output of an electrical system or network in terms of currents and voltages.

HIL Testing

The RTDS is connected to voltage and current amplifiers which convert the RTDS command signals into voltages and currents. The relay’s outputs can be connected to the RTDS which can interpret these signals and take certain actions (open a breaker, calculate tripping time, etc.), thereby closing the loop. This can only be achieved with a real-time simulator.

The closed-loop interaction of the protection system with the network model provides insight on both the performance of the relay scheme as well as its effect on the power system. A simple schematic of HIL is shown below.

HIL Testing

A model of the power system is implemented on the RTDS that includes the high-voltage components (e.g., lines, breakers, instrument transformers, power transformers, generators, etc.) plus the required protection and control functions not included in the equipment under testing.

Illustrated below is a typical topology for WAMPAC testing through RTDS, where detailed models of the instrument transformers (CT, PT, and CVTs) provide signals to amplifiers that convert the values to real secondary values as if we were on a real power system. PMU and IEC 61850 sampled values can also be included as part the outputs of our system in tests for HIL. Digital inputs and outputs are also exchanged between relays.

HIL Testing

Use Cases

Use Case 1 - Island Protection Implementation

Challenge: A customer needs to detect an islanding condition and identify events in the grid that could affect the point of interconnection (POI).

Value Added Proposition: Determine the parameters and methodology to trigger islanded identification. RTDS tests for validation purposes for loss of generation detection through sudden or cascade loss, loss of load detection through sudden or cascade loss, and trip to island from the external grid.

Benefits: Allow plant operation during islanding conditions through balance of load and generation.

Island Protection Implementation

Use Case 2 - Settings Audit

Challenge: A customer is facing unexpected protection tripping, impacting plant production. Undesired blackouts are costing $1M of lost profit per plant maloperation.

Value-Added Proposition: Existing settings are audited in an HIL environment with the same relays involved in plant operation. Multiple scenarios and faults are analyzed, and new setting proposals are tested on several cases when any finding is uncovered. A final report with findings and recommendations to improve setting coordination is delivered.

Benefits: Plant operation time is increased due to proper coordination, and time-to-repair is reduced through fast identification of the fault location. RTDS tests improved coordination between HV and MV sides. Some of the findings included miscoordination between bus coupler and feeder protection elements, phase undervoltage elements, and interlock inhibitions.

Use Case 3 - System Integrity Protection Scheme Validation

Challenge: System Integrity Protection Schemes are complex systems where multiple devices must be tested at the same time in the most realistic conditions due to their criticality in power system stability.

Value Added Proposition: RTDS tests become a mandatory requirement for factory acceptance test (FAT) to validate all dynamic test scenarios. Analog values from the electrical system are simulated, amplified, and hardwire to IEDs included in the SIPS, and additional information can also be sent directly from the test system to the SIPS central unit through PMU or IEC 61850 exchange, depending on the project design.

Benefits: These tests can highlight unforeseen scenarios and reduce commissioning time and minimize disruption to the operational network.

System Integrity Protection Scheme Validation
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