An open-source computer code has been developed by researchers from U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Tennessee and University of Central Florida to more efficiently examine power systems and identify electrical grid disruptions, such as power outages.

The Resilient Adaptive Parallel sImulator for griD (RAPID) relies on a novel parallel in time, or “parareal,” algorithm that divides calculations into smaller time intervals, then completes them at the same time but on different processors to streamline traditionally time-consuming simulations. The simulation process for transmission networks has been coupled with OpenDSS, a widely used open-source distribution system simulator, to enable the co-simulation of integrated transmission and distribution systems.

Synchronous generator model with relevant controllers. Source: Srikanth Allu, Srdjan Simunovic, Byungkwon Park, Kai Sun, Aleksandar Dimitrovski

RAPID also uses adaptive model reduction to lower computational demand by focusing only on areas near a disruption. The code is compatible with various architectures and could eventually help predict grid dynamics and assess algorithms for the integrated transmission and distribution network as fast as or faster than real time.