Reasons behind this project

The decarbonisation of the power system demands the rapid integration of new equipment — renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, data centres, HVDC links and intelligent electronic devices. As these inverter-based resources multiply and cluster, their interactions become increasingly difficult to predict. In practice, commissioning a new facility frequently triggers unexpected overheating, oscillations or adverse interference with neighbouring equipment, even when every individual unit meets the applicable standards and grid codes. The root cause is that connection studies typically assume an infinite busbar, ignoring the actual dynamic behaviour of the surrounding grid.

Addressing this requires detailed models of the local network — but sharing such models is blocked by legitimate privacy and cybersecurity concerns: grid operators, manufacturers and asset owners cannot expose sensitive topology data, proprietary control parameters or operational settings. This creates a “prisoners’ dilemma” in which every stakeholder would benefit from richer simulations, yet none can share what is needed to perform them.

Objectives

JoDyMoTePS (Joint Dynamic Modelling & Testing of Power Systems) is an open-source framework enabling TSOs, DSOs, equipment manufacturers and renewable energy developers to share privacy-preserving models of sub-parts of the European interconnected grid and to perform realistic dynamic co-simulations — without any party exposing sensitive data.

The platform relies on the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) standard to create encrypted black-box models (FMUs) that expose only external ports while hiding internal topology, control logic and proprietary parameters. Grid data follows CGMES/CIM standards with EIC-coded substation indexing. A vendor-agnostic co-simulation master connects to PowerFactory, OpenModelica, PSCAD/EMTP and other environments. The resulting model library, hosted under LF Energy, is progressively enriched by voluntary contributions from all stakeholder categories. An optional simulation gateway further allows users to upload, connect and run enriched studies in the cloud.

The project is structured in four phases with go/no-go decisions at each milestone: feasibility study, proof-of-concept library, full library implementation, and simulation gateway.

Project partners

Fraunhofer IEE, SuperGrid Institute, TotalEnergies and Amprion. The project is looking for additional partners.

Image credits: Image by starline on Freepik