Lessons learned from CPES co-simulation with distributed, heterogeneous systems

The increasing integration of distributed renewable energy resources into the power grid calls for employment of information and communication technology, transforming the grid into a cyber-physical energy system with new options for stable and optimized control. In order to evaluate and validate new control technologies, test systems are necessary. When the future extensibility of an approach is to be tested, laboratory and field tests reach their limits. Instead, simulation-based testing is required, like co-simulation, which allows the reuse of pre-existing simulation components. However, some co-simulation approaches designed for generic applicability tend to ignore certain setup characteristics like the need for remote coupling or exchange of complex data. This paper presents a co-simulation case study with distributed, heterogeneous simulation components. Challenges are discussed and it is shown how the framework MOSAIK helps to bridge the gap between special interfacing requirements and high system usability. © 2018, The Author(s).