Siemens Smart Infrastructure has announced an open, modular grid software suite to support energy stakeholders and enable them to be fast, agile and flexible when coping with existing and future challenges.

The suite, claimed to be an industry first, will enable users to run grid protection simulations up to six times faster than the current speed of execution and increase grid management efficiency by up to 85%.

Upcoming modules of the software suite will be developed to interact and enable agility. At the same time, they aim to keep the power grid cyber resilient while creating a digital twin of the grid throughout planning, simulation, real-time operations and maintenance of power grids.

“The speed and scale of changes in the energy system are unprecedented, as distributed energy resources (DERs) grow exponentially. Power grids are at the heart of a sustainable energy system and are becoming increasingly more complex. We cannot manage this complexity without open, modular and interoperable software,” stated Sabine Erlinghagen, CEO of grid software at Siemens Smart Infrastructure.

“By introducing the most comprehensive software suite in the market to date, we are leading the change to shape the grids of the future to a 100% renewable world. We are aware we cannot achieve the energy transition alone – we work with customers and partners.”

The grid software further aims to allow energy companies to implement smart technology for their grid planning and management. These IT upgrades will be faster and less costly than investments in hardware.

Through the modular approach, the parts will fit together and can be tailored to meet the individual needs of grid operators.

With seamless integration of IT and OT elements, thanks to one unified network model, users can synchronise data, including grid planning software, meter data management systems, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS).

Aiming to improve grid operations, insights from analytics and AI will be directly transferred into actions. According to Siemens, this allows a shift from a deterministic to a probabilistic management approach, fostering the integration of many DERs.

The software suite was announced as Siemens collaborates with industry players to rethink grid management.

To date, partners include companies such as CESC Limited (India), CMY Solutions (USA), Elvia (Norway), Hawaiian Electric (USA), IRETI (Italy), KNG-K?rnten Netz GmbH (Austria), Quanta Technology (USA), Stadtwerke Flensburg (Germany) and Statnett (Norway).