A Novel Digital Twin Platform for Accelerating Power Systems Restoration

ABSTRACT With the global energy structure transforming towards the goal of net zero emissions, the penetration of an inverter‐based resource (IBR) in power systems is increasing. This transformation poses two critical challenges: the system post blackout restoration process becomes extremely complicated, and this would lead to increased risks of protection maloperation caused by low inertia and short‐circuit level (SCL). To address these challenges, this paper proposes a digital twin (DT) platform to facilitate the restoration of the power system. This platform deploys a real‐time digital simulator (RTDS) to establish a DT power grid. By collecting real‐time data from phasor measurement units (PMUs), the DT power grid can be synchronised with the physical system (emulated via RTDS). The key applications embedded in this DT platform are serving as a dynamic analysis tool to optimise and verify restoration plans (RPs), provide decision‐making support and enable adaptive protection and control (P&C). Network resilience analysis metrics are proposed for assessing the effectiveness of network restoration acceleration. Detailed specifications of the DT platform are then provided for achieving all functionalities of accelerating restoration, securing an innovative and feasible technical path for enhancing the operational resilience of power systems in the context of future energy transformation.