Virtualisation in Power Grids: Foundations, Real-World Deployments, and Future Pathways

Working in collaboration with partners is a key element for SMPnet in our mission to cement the absolute necessity of virtualisation for the future of power grids.  It’s because of the incredible teamwork of the people at Dell Technologies and Iberdrola, and their willingness to engage with SMPnet and our Omega suite that we’ve been able to bring this exciting paper to the industry - underscoring the practical feasibility and transformative potential of virtualisation in power grids.  We’re very pleased to see it published in the IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Industrial Electronics – it’s something of a milestone to be able to share the results of our collaborative efforts, not least that it appeared in a special JESTIE issue on 'Advanced Hardware-in-the-Loop Methodologies for Breakthrough Validation and Testing of Next Generation Power Systems'.

The pilots present pioneering results from virtualised control applications implemented in digital substation environments and full-scale grid-forming converters, all deployed in real-world scenarios and full-scale power hardware in the loop setups.  Backed by these pilots and implementations, the paper explores how virtualisation is redefining scalability, multi-vendor interoperability, and real-time control in power grids.

Key highlights include:

Adaptive Grid  Optimisation: Virtualised optimisation algorithms managing thermals congestion and wide area voltage stability in varied and diverse high-DER scenarios. 

Power Island Sychronisation: Achieving millisecond precision in dynamic grid environments, ensuring seamless integration under challenging conditions. 

Interoperability and Scalability: Demonstrated through full-scale deployments with support for multi-vendor systems and multi-protocol implementation. 

The development and integration of these virtualised control applications highlight their scalability, practicality, multivendor interoperability, real-time grid management, and enhanced cybersecurity within power grids. The insights and lessons learned from these efforts provide a comprehensive framework and pave the way for future advancements in power grids and virtualisation.

We know that this work represents a milestone in modernising the grid for the renewable age – it’s a deep dive into practical deployments of virtualisation in digital substation environments and real-world grid operations. On that basis, we invite industry peers, technologists and grid operators to read on and explore how virtualisation is becoming the cornerstone of grid digitalisation.

To access the full paper, click: IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Industrial Electronics ( Volume: 6, Issue: 2, April 2025).

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