GPU Implementation of MATE for Ultrafast Simulations of Power-System Electromagnetic Transients

In studies of Electromagnetic Transients (EMT) for Electrical Power Systems (EPS), simulation times are often high. These simulations are usually addressed using a sequential computing approach based on EMTP (Electromagnetic Transients Program) type programs; however, this approach can be slow and computationally expensive, especially when simulating very large EPS. This work reports the development of a low-cost, high-performance EMT simulation system based on parallel computing. For this, the Multi-Area Thevenin Equivalents (MATE) solution framework has been implemented in a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). With the IEEE test network of 39 buses, the simulation times of the proposed system are compared with those of the EMTP type program, PSCAD/EMTDC®; and it is found that, by scaling the test network up to 390 simulated buses, the proposed system is up to 70 times faster.