Singapore’s First Digital Twin for National Power Grid

A brighter and more sustainable energy future –this is what Singapore’s first digital twin for the power grid will enable. Supported by the Energy Market Authority (EMA),  SP  Group  (SP)  and  the  Science  and  Technology  Policy  and  Plans  Office under the Prime Minister’s Office, the upcoming Grid Digital Twin will serve to  enhance  Singapore’s  grid  resilience  to  ensure  grid  reliability  and  support  the deployment of cleaner energy sources.

The Grid Digital Twin is a virtual representation of the physical power grid assetsandnetworkandoperatesusingreal-timeandhistoricaldata.Itcomprisestwo key models, Asset Twin1 for the health management of grid assets (such as substations, transformers, cables) and Network Twin2 for the assessment of impact on the grid when connecting new energy sources or consumers to the grid

The Grid Digital Twin is currently in a prototype stage and is expected to be fully developed over the next few years. When fully deployed, it will enable SP to better plan, operate and maintain the national power grid through modelling andsimulations sothattheactualworkscanbecarriedoutinamoreeffectiveandefficientway

Key benefits of the Grid Digital Twin include improving network planning analysis and remote monitoring of asset conditions, thereby saving manpower resources in carrying out extensive physical inspections. As the Grid Digital Twin providesamoreholisticmodelofthegrid,itcanfacilitateplanningofinfrastructurefor different needs (such as installation of electric vehicle chargers, and connection of solar photovoltaic systems and energy storage systems).

Progressive enhancements to the Grid Digital Twin are in place to make it more accurate and efficient, as SP continues to digitise the existing electricity assets under the network.

Intandem with the Singapore Green Plan 2030,Singapore is looking to greener sources of energy and more diversification of energy supply, such as solar deployments, energy storage systems and vehicle-to-grid technologies. In addition, power grid operations will become more complex with increasing electrification and deployment of more distributed energy resources (DERs). Currently, the national power grid comprises over 18,000 transformers, with more than 27,000 km of underground cables interconnecting over 11,000 substations. The Grid Digital Twin will therefore help to future-proof our power grid, to ensure that it is well-equipped to manage such complexities while maintaining reliability of grid operations

Mr Ngiam Shih Chun, Chief Executive of EMA, said, “The digital twin for our national power grid will help to enhance the reliability of our electricity supply and support our transition towards greater energy sustainability .With the pressing need to tackle climate change, the power grid needs to evolve to support a more complex power system that will connect to more diverse sources of cleaner energy as well as a growing network to meet rising demand.

Mr Stanley Huang, Group Chief Executive Officer of SP Group,said,“SPGroup works closely with EMA to explore measures to improve Singapore’s grid reliability and resilience. Harnessing the power of digitization, the Grid Digital Twin enables us to monitor and test different scenarios based on a virtual replica of the grid. We can then effectively test potential upgrades and enhancements, and future-ready innovations such as the projects under the SP Group -NTU Joint Lab to support our ambition to empower the future ofenergy.”7When completed, the Grid Digital Twin will be a key initiative in contributing towards Singapore’s overall efforts for greater sustainability through enhanced grid network planning and operations.

Received from Press Release

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