Case studies

The real-time simulation capabilities of ANGLE testbed allow to create sophisticated scenarios involving power hardware devices that are interfaced with real-time simulation environments via hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) methodologies such as power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) and controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL). HIL allows controllers (CHIL) and parts of EPS (PHIL) to be extensively tested before their final integration to the main grid. The current architecture of the ANGLE testbed is presented in Figure 1 as a representative configuration for studies related to inverter-based distributed energy resources (DERs) and controllable loads. The testbed is also interfaced with Shaheen II, a Cray XC40 supercomputer delivering over 7.2 Pflop/s of theoretical peak performance. With 5.536 Pflop/s of sustained LINPACK performance, Shaheen II was the seventh fastest supercomputer in the world according to the TOP500 list of July 2015. The high-performance platform will be soon be replaced by Shaheen III, set to be 20 times faster than KAUST's existing system, which will be the most powerful supercomputer in the Middle East and will be built using the HPE Cray EX supercomputer, a next-generation platform that will process vast amounts of data at immense speed and scale.