IGMS: An Integrated ISO-to-Appliance Scale Grid Modeling System

This paper describes the integrated grid modeling system (IGMS), a novel electric power system modeling platform for integrated transmission-distribution analysis that co-simulates off-the-shelf tools on high performance computing platforms to offer unprecedented resolution from independent system operator (ISO) markets down to appliances and other end uses. Specifically, the system simultaneously models hundreds or thousands of distribution systems in co-simulation with detailed ISO markets and automatic generator control-level reserve deployment. IGMS uses a new message passing interface-based hierarchical co-simulation framework to connect existing subdomain models. Our initial efforts integrate open-source tools for wholesale markets, bulk ac power flow, and full-featured distribution systems including physics-based end-use and distributed generation models (many instances of GridLAB-D). The modular IGMS framework enables tool substitution and additions for multi-domain analyses. This paper describes the IGMS tool, characterizes its performance, and demonstrates the impacts of the coupled simulations for analyzing high-penetration solar photovoltaic and price responsive load scenarios.