10th

10th IFAC
IFAC Symposium
Symposium on
on Control
Control of
of Power
Power and
and Energy
Energy Systems
Systems
Tokyo,
10th
Tokyo, Japan,
IFAC September
Symposium
Japan, on
September 4-6, 2018
Control
4-6, of
2018 Available
Power and online
Energy atSystems
www.sciencedirect.com
10th IFAC
10th IFAC Symposium
Symposium on Control
on 4-6,
Control of
of Power and Energy Systems
Power and Energy Systems
Tokyo,
Tokyo, Japan,
Japan, September
September 4-6, 2018
2018
Tokyo, Japan, September 4-6, 2018
ScienceDirect
IFAC PapersOnLine 51-28 (2018) 132–137
Application
Application of
of In-Memory
In-Memory Computing
Computing to to Online
Online Power
Power Grid
Grid Analysis
Analysis
Application
Application of
of In-Memory
In-Memory Computing
Computing to
to Online
Online Power
Power Grid
Grid Analysis
Analysis
Application of In-MemoryMike
Computing to Online
Zhou* Donghao Feng** Power Grid Analysis
Mike Zhou* Donghao Feng**
*State Mike
*State Grid EPRI
Mike
Grid EPRI，
Zhou*
Beijing,
Zhou* Donghao
Beijing, China
China
Feng**
(mike.zhou@interpss.org)
Donghao Feng**
(mike.zhou@interpss.org)
**KeDong
Mike Zhou*
， Donghao Feng**
**KeDong Electric
*State
Electric
*State
Power
Grid
Power
Grid
Control
EPRI
Control
EPRI ， System
Beijing,
System
Beijing,
Com.
China
Com.
China
，
， Beijing,
Beijing, China
China (dh.feng@foxmail.com)
(mike.zhou@interpss.org)
(dh.feng@foxmail.com)
(mike.zhou@interpss.org)
**KeDong *StatePower
Electric Grid EPRI ，Beijing,
，
Control System China
Com. (mike.zhou@interpss.org)
Beijing, China (dh.feng@foxmail.com)
**KeDong Electric Power Control System Com.，Beijing, China (dh.feng@foxmail.com)
**KeDong Electric Power Control System Com. ，
， Beijing, China (dh.feng@foxmail.com)

Abstract: To
Abstract: To address
address the
the hard
hard disk
disk and
and network
network data
data I/O
I/O bottleneck
bottleneck issue
issue in
in the
the large-scale
large-scale online
online power
power
grid
grid analysis,
Abstract: To
analysis,
Abstract: To an
an in-memory
address the
in-memory
address the hard
hardcomputing
disk and
computing
disk and based
network
based
network power
data
power
data I/O
I/Ogrid
grid analysis
bottleneck
analysis
bottleneck approach
issue in
approach
issue in the
theis
is proposed
large-scale
proposed
large-scale in
in this
online
this
online paper.
power
paper.
power
Abstract:
Typical
grid To address
in-memory
analysis, an the hardcomputing
computing
in-memory disk and network
applicationbased data I/O
scenarios
power in bottleneck
the
grid online
analysis issue
powerin grid
approach theislarge-scale
analysis
proposed online
are
in power
discussed.
this paper.
Typical
grid
grid in-memory
analysis,
analysis, an
an computing
in-memory
in-memory application
computing
computing scenarios
based
based power
power in the
grid
grid online
analysis
analysis power
approach
approach grid
is
is analysis
proposed
proposed are
in
in discussed.
this
this paper.
paper.
Using
Typical
Using a large-scale
in-memory
Typicala large-scale online
in-memory online analysis
computing
analysis
computing network
application
application model
network scenarios
scenariosas
model as aina sample
the case,
the online
insample in-memory
case,power
online grid computing
grid analysis
in-memory
power computing
analysis are simulations
discussed.
aresimulations
discussed.
Typical in-memory
corresponding to computing
the scenarios application
were scenarios
performed, ainsample
asand the
the online
case,power
simulation grid
results analysis
and are
analysisdiscussed.
of
Using aa large-scale
Using
Using a
large-scale
corresponding to
large-scale
online
the
online
online
analysis
scenarios
analysis
analysis
network
were
network
network
model as
performed,
model
model asand
a
a
sample
the
sample case,
case,
in-memory
simulation results
in-memory
in-memory
computing
and analysis
computing
computing of the
simulations
the
simulations
simulations
performance
corresponding
performance
corresponding of
of the
to
the
to simulation
the
simulation
the are
scenarios
are
scenarios presented.
were performed,
presented.
were and the simulation results and analysis of the
corresponding
performance of to
the the scenarios
simulation are were performed, and the simulation results and analysis of the
performed,
presented.
and the simulation results and analysis of the
© 2018, IFAC
performance
performance
Keywords: (International
of
of the
the
In-memory simulation
simulationFederation
are
are
Computing, of Automatic
presented.
presented.
In-memory Data Control)
Grid, Hosting by Elsevier
Object-oriented Ltd.
Modeling,
Keywords: In-memory Computing, In-memory Data Grid, Object-oriented Modeling, Online Power Grid All rights
Online reserved.
Power Grid
Analysis.
Keywords:
Analysis.
Keywords: In-memory Computing, In-memory Data Grid, Object-oriented Modeling, Online Power Grid
Keywords: In-memory
Analysis. In-memory Computing,
Computing, In-memory
In-memory Data Data Grid,
Grid, Object-oriented
Object-oriented Modeling,
Modeling, Online
Online Power
Power Grid
Grid
Analysis.
Analysis. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under the Grant U1766214.
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under the Grant U1766214.
This
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under the Grant U1766214.
This work
work was
was supported
supported by
by National
National Natural
Natural Science
Science Foundation
Foundation of
of China
China under
under the
the Grant
Grant U1766214.
U1766214.
1. The
The power
power grid
grid is is aa complex
complex high-order
high-order nonlinear
nonlinear system.
system.
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION The online
power DSA
grid computation
is a complex process
high-orderis very data-intensive.
nonlinear system.
1. INTRODUCTION The
The online
power DSA
power DSAgrid
grid computation
is
is a complex
a complex process
high-order
high-orderis very data-intensive.
nonlinear
nonlinear system.
system.
After 1. INTRODUCTION The research focus so far was mainly focusing on improving
After aa decade
decade of of 1.development,
INTRODUCTION
development, online
online dynamic
dynamic security
security The
The
online
research
online
online DSA
DSAfocus computation
so far
computation
computation was process
mainly
process
process
is very
focusing
is
is very
very
data-intensive.
on improving
data-intensive.
data-intensive.
assessment
After a decade (DSA) of has been
development, widely
online used in
dynamic the power
security the
The
the performance
research
performance focus of
ofso the
far
the DSA
was simulation
mainly focusing algorithms
on while
improving
assessment
After
After a decade
a decade
dispatching
assessment
(DSA)
control
(DSA)
of
of hashas been
development,
development,
centersbeen in
widely
online
online
China
widely
used in
dynamic
dynamic
[Zheng(2010)].
used in
the
the
power
security
security
The
power
The
The research
research
neglecting
the the
performance
focus
focus
dataof
so far DSA
far
soI/O
the
was
issue.
DSA
simulation
was mainly
mainly
In the
focusing
focusing
simulation
algorithms
current
on
ononline
algorithms
while
improving
improving
DSA
while
dispatching
assessment control
(DSA) centers
has been in China
widely [Zheng(2010)].
used in the The neglecting
the the
performance dataof I/O
the issue.
DSA In the
simulation current online
algorithms DSA
while
assessment
online DSA
dispatching (DSA)
analysis
control has
has
centersbeeninplaying
been widely
China a used
very in the power
important
[Zheng(2010)]. power
role
The the performance
system,
neglectingdeployed
the dataof
in the power
the
I/O DSA
issue. simulation
dispatching
In the algorithms
centers
current in
online while
China,
DSA
online DSA
dispatching analysis
control has
centersbeen inplaying
China a very important
[Zheng(2010)]. role
The system,
neglecting
neglectingdeployed
the data
the data in the
I/O power
issue.
I/O power dispatching
In the
issue. dispatching
In the centers
current
current in
online
online China,
DSA
DSA
dispatching
in the
online DSA controlof centers
operation
analysis the
has been inplaying
power China
grid a [Zheng(2010)].
in China
very The
[Li(2005),
important role the data
system, processing
deployed in and
the persistence during the
centers online
in DSA
China,
in the
online operation
DSA analysis of the
has power
been grid
playing ain China
very [Li(2005),
important role the data processing
system, deployed
system, deployed in and
in the persistence
the power
power dispatching during
dispatching centers the online
centers in DSA
in China,
China,
online DSA
Tian(2014)]. analysis
In has been playing a very important role computation process involve a large volume of data
in
in the
the operation
Tian(2014)].
in the operation
operation In aaof ofmodern
the
the power
modern EMS
EMSgrid
power gridsystem,
in
in China
system, the
China redundant
the [Li(2005),
redundant
[Li(2005), the
the
the
data
computation
data processing
process
processing
data processing
and
and
and
persistence
involve
persistence
persistence a during
large
during
during
the
volume
the online
online
the online of DSA
data
DSA
DSA
telemetry
Tian(2014)].
telemetry (RTU)
(RTU) In aaofmodern
the
measurement
measurement
power
EMS data
data
grid
is
is
in
system, China
processed
processed the [Li(2005),
first by
by the
redundant
first the movement,
computation
movement,
computation resulting
process
resulting
process in
in intensive
involve
intensive
involve a
a data
large
data
large interaction
volume
interaction
volume with
of
with
of the
data
the
Tian(2014)].
Tian(2014)].
Supervisory
telemetry (RTU)
In
Control
modern
In measurement
a modern
And
EMS
EMS
Data
system,
system,
Acquisition
data is processed
the
(SCADA)
redundant
the first
redundant
by sub-
the computation
computer
movement, hard process
disk
resulting and
ininvolve
the a data
largeinteraction
communication
intensive volume
network. of It data
with data
has
the
Supervisory
telemetry (RTU) Control And
measurement Data Acquisition
data is processed(SCADA)
first by sub-
the computer
movement,
movement, hard disk
resulting
resulting and
in the
in disk communication
intensive
intensive data network.
interaction
data interaction with
withIt has
the
the
telemetry
system and
Supervisory (RTU)
then
Controlmeasurement
by the
And State
Data data is processed
Estimation
Acquisition (SE) first bysub-
sub-system
(SCADA) the
to been observed
computer hard that
disk hard
and the and network
communication data I/O
network. is one
It of
has
system and
Supervisory then
Controlby the
And State
Data Estimation
Acquisition (SE) sub-system
(SCADA) to
sub- been observed
computer
computer hard
hard that
disk
disk hard
and
and disk
the
the and network
communication
communication data I/O
network.
network. is one
It
It of
has
has
Supervisory
estimate
system the
and Control
state
then of
by And
the Data
power
State Acquisition
grid and
Estimation (SE) (SCADA)
establish a sub-
Loadflow
sub-system to the
been major
observedbottlenecks
that hard affecting
disk and the
network overall
data online
I/O is DSA
one of
estimate
system the
and state
then of
by the power
State grid and
Estimation establish
(SE) a Loadflow
sub-system to the
been major
observed
beenmajor
observedbottlenecks
that hard
that hard affecting
disk
disk and the
network
and network overall
data
data online
I/O
I/O is DSA
one
is one of
of
system
snapshot.
estimate andThen
the then
statea by
set
of the
of
the State Estimation
potential
power contingencies
grid and (SE) sub-system
establish area simulated
Loadflow to system
the performance.
bottlenecks For example,
affecting in
the someoverallcases, more
online than
DSA
snapshot.
estimate Then
the statea set
of of
the potential
power contingencies
grid and establish area simulated
Loadflow system
the
the performance.
major
major bottlenecks
bottlenecks For example,
affecting
affecting in
the
the someoverall
overallcases, more
online
online than
DSA
DSA
estimate the state of the power grid and establish a Loadflow 80% of computation time is
and analyzed
snapshot.
and Then
analyzed by
aa setthe
theof online
potentialDSA analysis
analysis system.
contingencies are In
In the
simulated system
80% ofperformance.
computation For is spent
timeexample,spent in onsome
inon
data preparation
data cases, more
preparation and
than
and
snapshot.
snapshot.
recent Thenby
Then
development a set
set ofofonline
of potential
potential
the
DSA contingencies
contingencies
ultra-high voltage
system.
are
are simulated
(UHV)
the
simulated
AC/DC
system
system
moving
80% of
performance.
performance.
data from
computation
For
For
one
time
example,
example,
location
is spent
in
to on
some
some
another.
data
cases,
cases, more
more than
Although
preparation than
the
and
recent
and
and
analyzed
development
analyzed
analyzed
by
by
by
the
of
the
the
online
the
online
online
DSA
ultra-high
DSA
DSA
analysis
voltage
analysis
analysis
system.
(UHV)
system.
system.
In
AC/DC
In the
the
Inthere
the
moving
80% of
80% data from
of computation
computation time one location
time is is spent to
spent on another.
on data preparation and
Although
data preparation the
and
and
national
recent
national power
development
power
recent development
development of grid
grid in
of
in China,
the
China,
of the it
it has
ultra-high
has
the ultra-high been
voltage
been
ultra-high voltage observed
(UHV)
observed
voltage (UHV) that
AC/DC
that
(UHV) AC/DC there
AC/DC simulation
moving
simulation
moving algorithms
data from
algorithms
data from one
oneused
used in
in the
location
the
location online
to
online
to analysis
another.
analysis
another. are
Although
are
Although specific
the
specific
the
recent
are many
national new challenges in the online analysis, monitoring, moving
to the
simulation data
power from
algorithms one
engineeringusedlocation
infield,
the totheanother.
online underlying
analysis Although
are the
software
specific
are manypower
national
national power
power
grid
new challenges
grid
grid
in
in China,
in China, in the
China,
it
it
it
has
has
has
been
online
been
been
observed
analysis,
observed
observed
that
that there
monitoring,
that there
there
to the
simulation
simulationpower engineering
algorithms
algorithms used
used in
infield,
the
the the
online
online underlying
analysis
analysis are
are software
specific
specific
and
are control
many new of the
challenges UHV in power
the online grid, and
analysis, substantial
monitoring, implementation
to the issues
issues associated
power engineering
implementation field,
associated withthe the distributed
underlying parallel
distributedsoftware
and
are
are
and
control
many
many
improvement
new
new
control
of
of
the
challenges
challenges
of thethe
UHV
UHV
in
in
responsiveness
power
the
the online
online
powerof
grid,
the
and
analysis,
analysis,
grid,online
and
substantial
monitoring,
monitoring,
DSA system
substantial
to
to the
the power
powerare
computation
implementation
engineering
engineering
generic
issues field,with
field,
software
associated with
the the
the
underlying
theengineering
underlying
distributed
parallel
software
software
problems
parallel
improvement of computation are generic software engineering problems
and
and
is
control
control
needed
improvement ofthe
of
[Zheng(2010)].
of thetheresponsiveness
the UHV
UHV power
responsiveness powerofof
the
grid,
grid,
the
online
andDSA
and
online DSA
system
substantial
substantial
system
implementation
implementation
[Zhou(2013)].
computation are
issues
issues associated
associated
generic software
with the distributed
with engineering
the distributedproblems parallel
parallel
is needed
improvement [Zheng(2010)].
of [Zhou(2013)].
computation are generic software engineering problems
improvement
is needed of the responsiveness of the online DSA system
the
[Zheng(2010)].
responsiveness of the online DSA system computation
[Zhou(2013)]. are generic software engineering problems
is needed
needed [Zheng(2010)].
Although
is one can can solve
[Zheng(2010)]. solve aa powerpower gridgrid simulation
simulation case case of of [Zhou(2013)].
The in-memory computing
[Zhou(2013)]. computing (IMC) (IMC) approach
approach has has been
been usedused
Although one The in-memory
practically
Although
practically
Although one any
one
any
one can size
can
size
can solve using
solve
using a one
power
one
solve aa power computer
grid
computer
power grid with
simulation
with
grid simulation the
the
simulation case modern
case
case of
modern of successfully
The in-memory
in-memory
successfully
The in
in many
computing
many
computingother
other industries
(IMC)
industries
(IMC) to
approach
to
approach solve
solve hassimilar
has been used
similar
been disk
used
disk
Although
computer
practically hardware,
any size size an usingonline
one DSAcomputer system, within general,
the modern of
is The network
and in-memory
successfully data
in computing
I/O
many bottleneck
other (IMC) issues
industries approach
to
to improve
solve hassimilar
been
the used
overall
disk
computer
practically hardware,
any an
usingonline
one DSA
computer system, within general,
the modern is and network
successfully
successfully data
in I/O
many
in many bottleneck
other
other issues
industries
industries to
to improve
solve
tosoftware the
similar
solve similar overall
disk
disk
practically
running
computer in any a
hardware, size using
distributed
an one
online computer
computing
DSA system, within the
environment. modern
general, Foris responsiveness
and network data of
I/O distributed
bottleneck issues to improve the systems
overall
running
computer in a
hardware, distributed
an online computing
DSA environment.
system, in general, Foris responsiveness
and
and network
network data
data of
I/O
I/O distributed
bottleneck
bottleneck issues
issues to
to software
improve
improve the
the systems
overall
overall
computer
example, hardware,
the online anDSA online DSA insystem,
system the in general,
national power is [Hazelcast(2018),
responsiveness SAP(2018),
of Apache
distributed Spark(2012)]. IMC
running
example,
running in
the
in a
a distributed
online DSA
distributed computing
system
computing in theenvironment.
national
environment. For
power
For [Hazelcast(2018),
responsiveness
responsiveness SAP(2018),
of Apache software
distributed
of in-memory
distributed Spark(2012)].
software
software
systems
IMC
systems
systems
running
dispatching in a
center distributed
of computing environment. For means using distributed data grid that allows one
example,
dispatching
example,
example,
the
the
thecenteronline
online
online of China
DSA
China
DSA is
DSA issystem
currently
currently
system
system
in hosted
the
in hosted
in the in
in aa computer
national
the national
national
power
computer
power
power
[Hazelcast(2018),
means using
[Hazelcast(2018),
[Hazelcast(2018),
SAP(2018),
distributed in-memory
SAP(2018),
SAP(2018),
Apache
Apache
Apache data Spark(2012)].
grid that
Spark(2012)].
Spark(2012)]. allows IMC
one
IMC
IMC
cluster
cluster of
dispatching
of
dispatching 40
40 blade
center
blade
center of
of servers
China
servers
China with
is
with
is approximately
currently hosted
approximately
currently hosted in
in 1000
a
1000
a cores.
computer
cores.
computer to
to store
means
store
means data
using
data
using in
in computer
distributed in-memory
computer
distributed in-memorymemory,
memory, data
data across
grid
across
grid a
that
a
that cluster
allows
cluster
allows of
one
of
one
dispatching
Distributed
cluster of 40center
parallel
blade of China
computing
servers is currently
withapproaches hosted
approximately have in a
been
1000computer
used in
cores. means
computer
to using
store datadistributed
nodes, in and in-memory
process
computer the
memory, datainacross
data grid that
parallela allows
directly
cluster one
in
of
Distributed
cluster of 40parallel
blade computing
servers withapproaches
approximately have been
1000 used in
cores. computer
to
to store
store nodes,
data
data in
in and process
computer
computer the
memory,
memory,data in parallel
across
across directly
aa cluster
cluster by in
of
of
cluster
the of 40
Chinese blade computing
power servers with
dispatching approximately
centers to 1000used
accelerate cores.
the the memory.
computer In
nodes, this
and way, the
process I/O
the issues
data incan be
paralleladdressed
directly
Distributed
the Chinese
Distributed
Distributed
parallel
power
parallel
parallel dispatching
computing
computing
approaches
centers
approaches
approaches
have
to
have
have
been
accelerate
been
been used
usedthe
in
the
in
in
the memory.
computer nodes,
computer In this
nodes, and way,
and process the
process the I/O issues
the data
data in can be
in parallel directly in
addressed
parallel directly by
in
in
online
the
online DSA
Chinese
DSA
the Chinese
Chinese power analysis
power
analysis [Wang(2012),
dispatching
[Wang(2012),
power dispatching
dispatching centers Qu(2013)].
centers
Qu(2013)].
centers to to The
accelerate
The
to accelerate parallel
parallel
accelerate the the minimizing
the memory.
minimizing
the memory. the
In
the
In time
this
time
this of
way,
of
way, moving
the
moving
the I/O
I/O data
issues
data
issuesvia
via the
can
the
can communication
be addressed
communication
be addressed by
by
the the memory.
network, andIn this way, the
accessing/updating I/O issues
the candatabe addressed
from/to by
computation
online DSA
computation
online DSA is implemented
analysis
is implemented[Wang(2012), at the computing
at the Qu(2013)].
computing The node level,
nodeparallel
level, minimizing
network,
minimizing the
and
the time of moving data
accessing/updating
time of
of moving
moving data
via
the
via
via the
the from/to the
datacommunication
communication the
where DSA analysis
online multiple
computation analysis
is simulation
[Wang(2012),
[Wang(2012),
implemented programs
at the
Qu(2013)].
Qu(2013)].
(computer
computing
The
The
process)
node
parallel
parallel
are
level, minimizing
computer
network, thedisk.
hard
and time Application
accessing/updating data
of in-memory
the the
data communication
computing
from/to to
the
where multiple
computation is simulation
implemented programs
at the (computer
computing process)
node are computer
network, hard
and disk. Application
accessing/updating of in-memory
the data computing
from/to to
the
computation
running
where in
multiple is simulation
implemented
parallel to perform at the
programs the computing
dynamic
(computer node level,
level,
contingency
process) are network,
online
computer and grid
power
hard accessing/updating
disk. analysis
Application has ofbeenthe investigated
in-memory data computing
from/to and theis
to
running
where in
multiple parallel to
simulation perform
programs the dynamic
(computer contingency
process) are online
computer
computer power
hard
hard grid
disk.
disk. analysis
Application
Application has ofbeen
in-memory
ofbeen
in-memoryinvestigated
computing
computing and is
to
to
where
running multiple
analysis. It
in is simulation
known
parallel to in programs
the
performcomputer
the (computer
science
dynamic process)
that are
parallel
contingency reported
online in
power the paper.
grid In
analysis the context
has of online
investigated power and gridis
analysis.
running It
in is known
parallel to in the
performcomputer
the science
dynamic that parallel
contingency reported
online
online in
power
power the paper.
grid
grid In
analysis
analysis the context
has
has been
been of online
investigated
investigated power and grid
anddata is
is
running
computationin parallel
implemented to perform
in the dynamic contingency analysis, real-time refers to the response speed of
analysis.
computation
analysis.
analysis. It
It is
It tois
known
isimplemented
known
knownthe
in
in in this
the
the
in I/O
the
way,
way, in
computer
this
computer
computer
general,
inscience
general,that
science
science
would
would
that
that
have
parallel
have
parallel
parallel
reported
analysis,
reported
reported
in
in
in
the
real-time
the
the
paper.
paper.
paper.
In
refers
In
In
the
to
the
the
context
the
context
context
of
response
of
of
online
speed
online
online
power
power
power of grid
data
grid
grid
difficulties
computation address
implemented in bottleneck
this way, inproblem
general, [Jin(2013)].
would have processing
analysis,
processing and
and computation
real-time refers
computation in
in the
to the
the order of
of seconds.
response speed of data
difficulties
computation
computation
difficulties
to
to
address
implemented
implemented
address
the
the
I/O
in bottleneck
this
in this
I/O
way, inproblem
general,
way, inproblem
bottleneck
[Jin(2013)].
would
would have
general,[Jin(2013)]. have analysis,
analysis,
processing
real-time
real-time
and
refers
refers to
computation to
in theorder
the
the
response
response
order of
seconds.
speed
speed of
seconds. of data
data
difficulties
difficulties toto address
address the the I/O
I/O bottleneck
bottleneck problem
problem [Jin(2013)].
[Jin(2013)]. processing and
processing and computation
computation in in the
the order
order of of seconds.
seconds.

2405-8963 © 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright
Peer review©
Copyright 2018
©under IFAC
2018 responsibility
IFAC 132
132Control.
of International Federation of Automatic
Copyright © 2018 IFAC
10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.11.690
Copyright © 2018 IFAC 132
132
Copyright © 2018 IFAC 132
 IFAC CPES 2018
Tokyo, Japan, September 4-6, 2018 Mike Zhou et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-28 (2018) 132–137 133
The IMC concept is first briefly introduced in Section-2. An
IMC-based power grid analysis approach is proposed
together with the power network modelling technique to
support the IMC-base power grid analysis application
implementation in Section-3. Application of the IMC-based
approach to online power grid analysis is discussed in
Section-4. Using a large-scale online analysis power network
model as a sample, testing cases and simulation results to
investigate the IMC-based online analysis simulation
performance and efficiency are presented in Section-5.
2. IN-MEMORY COMPUTING
The introduction of multi-CPU and multi-core computer
hardware architecture, and the significant reduction of the
computer storage RAM price have resulted in the widespread
usage of the in-memory computing in many other industries
to improve the responsiveness of distributed software
systems. In-memory computing and related concepts are
introduced in this section.
2.1 In-memory Data Grid (IMDG)
In-memory data grid is a data storage approach in that data
resides entirely in random access memory (RAM) and is
distributed among multiple computer nodes. RAM, roughly,
is 5000-times faster than traditional hard disk. Recent
technology advances in multi-core processors have made it
practical to store a large amount of data completely in
memory to replace electromechanical mass storage media
such as hard disks. IMDG could support hundreds of
thousands of in-memory data updates per second and could
be clustered and scaled in ways that support processing a
large volume of data at very high speed. IMDG is the
foundation for the in-memory computing implementation.
The open source Hazelcast IMDG software system
[Hazelcast(2018)] is used in the research reported in this
paper.
2.2 In-memory Computing (IMC)
In-memory computing means using IMDG that allows one to
store data in RAM, across a cluster of computer nodes, and
process the data directly in memory in parallel. IMC-based
software, in general, is designed to store data in a distributed
fashion, where the entire dataset is divided into individual
computer nodes’ RAM, each storing only a portion of the
overall dataset. Once data is stored and partitioned in a multi-
CPU/Core distributed computing environment, highly
efficient parallel processing becomes possible.
2.3 Distributed Data Processing Architecture
Today processing Big Data is usually done on a cluster of
distributed computer nodes. A typical Data Bus based
distributed data processing approach is shown in Fig.1. In
this approach, data is stored on the Data Node(s). In the
computation process, data is sent to the Computation Node(s)
through the Data Bus, to perform certain data processing
tasks. This is a typical so called "moving data" distributed
data processing strategy. The IMDG based distributed data
processing approach is shown in Fig.2. In this approach, a set
of computer nodes forms an IMDG, and the data is stored on
the IMDG node(s). In the computation process, according to
133
problem specific computing requirement, simulation
algorithm(s) are "sent" to and executed on the same node,
where the simulation data is located, to perform some data
processing tasks. In this way, it is possible to achieve the so-
called "moving algorithm instead of moving data" distributed
data processing strategy so that the data movement and disk
I/O could be minimized in the computation process to
increase the overall computation efficiency. This is the
essence of in-memory computing.
Fig.1. DataBus based distributed data processing architecture.
Fig. 2. IMDG based distributed data processing architecture.
2.4 Data Affinity
The efficiency of IMDG based applications mainly depends
on the network communication cost during the computation
process. IMDG partitions are memory segments that can
contain many data objects [Hazelcast(2018)]. IMDG
software, in general, provides Data Affinity feature, which
could be used to ensure that related data objects are stored on
the same computer node (Partition). If related data objects are
stored in the same location, computation operations can be
executed without the cost of extra network calls.
Furthermore, certain computation operations could be
implemented to be partition-ware, meaning that the operation
will be guaranteed to be executed on the partition or the same
computer node where the data objects are stored to avoid the
data movement in the computation process.
Using power system Loadflow calculation as an example, in
an IMDG with multiple computer nodes, it is desirable to
store all data objects of a simulation case on a partition or on
a computer node using the Data Affinity feature, and the
Loadflow simulation algorithm should be executed on the
same partition where the Loadflow case (data objects) are
stored, so that the data movement between computer nodes
could be avoided in the simulation process. In this way, we
can achieve the so-called "moving algorithm instead of
moving data" processing strategy in the distributed
computation environment.
IFAC CPES 2018
134
Tokyo, Japan, September 4-6, 2018 Mike Zhou et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-28 (2018) 132–137
3. IMC-BASED POWER GRID ANALYSIS
IMC has been applied to power grid analysis. This section
presents the application software system architecture and
some implementation details.
3.1 Power Network Modelling
Power network modelling refers to the technique to establish
the object model stored in computer memory or database to
representing power grid conducting equipment, measurement
devices, and connectivity relationship between these
equipment/device, plus their parameters. Power network
models, in general, can be expressed in one of two forms: 1)
Node/Breaker model; 2) Bus/Branch model. As we know,
commonly used power grid analysis algorithms, such as
Loadflow, Transient Stability, N-1 Contingency Analysis, are
formulated based on the network admittance [Y]-matrix,
which could be created more efficiently from a Bus/Branch
network model. The power network model discussed in this
paper is expressed in the Bus/Branch model form.
A power network could be represented using an object model
in computer memory for the simulation purpose
[Zhou(1996)]. In the object model, the network [Y]-matrix
connectivity relationship is represented by the
containing/reference relationship between the Network
object, Bus objects and Branch objects. Power grid
equipment/device data/parameters used in the analysis are
stored in the corresponding Network/Bus/Branch objects.
The data stored in the objects and the object
containing/reference relationship together form a power
network model object for the power grid analysis purpose.
Based on the InterPSS software development experience
[InterPSS(2007)], many advantages in using an object model
to represent a power network in developing power system
analysis software have been observed. Using modern object-
oriented programming language, such as Java, it is possible
that the power grid analysis software developed is highly
modular and much easier to read, maintain, reuse and extend.
3.2 IMDG-based Power Network Model
In-memory data grid provides functions to store and manage
objects in the distributed computing environment with
dynamic scalability and high availability. The in-memory
computing implementation presented in this paper is based on
the open source in-memory data grid software Hazelcast
[Hazelcast(2018)]. The power network object model
introduced in Refs[Zhou(1996), InterPSS(2007)] has been
extended to the data grid running in the distributed
computation environment. The Data Affinity feature
provided by Hazelcast IMDG has been used to minimize the
data movement during the simulation process.
3.3 IMC-Base Power Grid Analysis Architecture
In-memory computing based power grid analysis software
system architecture is shown in Fig.3. The object-oriented
power grid simulation model [Zhou(1996), InterPSS(2007)]
(Model in Fig.3) is hosted in a distributed data grid, which
usually consists of multiple computer nodes, to create a
distributed power grid analysis model. Using the Service-
Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach, the simulation data
and simulation algorithm (Data and Algorithm in the figure),
134
which are the two key parts of the power grid analysis model
object, are stored and deployed in the Data Grid. The external
service request (Service Request in Fig.3) to process the
simulation data can be fulfilled by applying the algorithm
directly to the data, through the in-memory data access. The
simulation data and algorithm are co-located in the same
location. The Data Affinity feature discussed in the Section
II.D can guarantee that the simulation algorithm is executed
at the same location where the simulation data is stored.
Fig. 3. IMC based Power Grid Analysis Architecture.
3.4 IMC-based Analysis Service
The main steps to call an IMC-based power grid analysis
service are shown in Fig.4. First (Step-1), it is assumed that
the model object is initialized by loading the simulation data
from some location, for example, from a database, and stored
in the IMDG. A simulation request (Step-2) is sent from a
client application to the IMDG, where the grid analysis
model is hosted. Based the data affinity and partition-aware
features, the simulation (Step-3) is performed on the
computer node where the model object is stored. After the
completion of the simulation, the results are returned back to
the client (Step-4).
Fig. 4. IMC-based Analysis Service Call Sequence Diagram.
// Configure the data grid client. Hazelcast
// is the data grid software
client = HazelcastClient
.newHazelcastClient(config);
// execute the CallableTask task on the
// node where the network object (netKey)
// is stored
Object rtn = client
.getExecutorService("exec")
.executeOnKeyOwner(
new CallableTask<Object>(netKey),
netKey);
The above is some sample pseudo-Java code to show how to
call an IMC-based power grid analysis service. The service
user (Client Application) can send computation request from
the client side to be executed in the data grid. In the above
sample code, it is assumed that a power grid analysis model
object has already stored in the data grid (IMDG). The model
object is identified with a unique key (netKey). A simulation
 IFAC CPES 2018
Tokyo, Japan, September 4-6, 2018 Mike Zhou et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-28 (2018) 132–137 135

task (CallableTask), which wraps some power grid

analysis algorithm, for example, Loadflow analysis, is sent to
the data grid to be executed.
The executeOnKeyOwner() method sends simulation
request to the model object stored in the data grid and
identified by the object key (netKey) and waits for the
results to return. The method can guarantee that the
CallableTask is executed on the computer node where the
model object with the key (netKey) is located.
It should be pointed out that the IMC-based power grid
analysis approach developed in the research is intended to co-
exist with, rather than replacing, the conventional power grid
analysis approach. The main objective of the IMC-based Fig. 5. The New Online Analysis System Architecture.
approach is to solve the data movement problem during the
4.2 Real-time Online Grid Analysis Model
simulation process in the large-scale distributed computation
At the center of the new architecture is the online grid
environment. The simulation algorithms used in the IMC-
analysis model (Grid Analysis Model in the Fig.5). The
based approach are almost the same as the conventional
online grid analysis model is hosted in the data grid and
power grid analysis approach and have similar computation
supports in-memory computing, which enables the analysis
efficiency.
model to have real-time response speed. The analysis model
is periodical, for example, every 15 min, synchronized with
4. APPLICATION TO ONLINE ANALYSIS
the EMS state estimation outcome. It also subscribes the
While the IMC-based power grid analysis approach is generic power grid change events published by the EMS SCADA
and could be applied to many power grid analysis scenarios, sub-system and updates itself in real-time. The analysis
the focus of this paper is on the online analysis, where data model also provides an event-driven API. Changes (update)
processing and computation response speed is crucial. The to the model are published in real-time as model change
application of the IMC-based power grid analysis approach to events. A Complex Event Processing (CEP) engine
the online analysis is discussed in this section. subscribes to the event, perform situation awareness analysis
4.1 New Online Analysis System Architecture and drive the downstream real-time online analysis
A new online analysis system architecture has been proposed applications.
in [Zhou(2018a)], as shown in Fig.5, to speed up the online 4.3 Online Analysis Application Scenarios
analysis to achieve response speed in real-time (in the order
The following are three potential online analysis application
of seconds). In parallel with the existing online analysis data
scenarios for the IMC-based power grid analysis approach.
processing and computation path (min-order path in Fig.5),
found in the current online DSA system deployed in the 1) Tracking Grid Operation State: Based on the online grid
power dispatching centers in China, a new real-time, event- analysis model, power grid operation state could be tracked
driven data processing and computation path (sec-order path in real-time. As shown in Fig.5, the online grid analysis
in Fig.5) is introduced in the new architecture. model is being updated in real-time by the SCADA
information published on the high-speed data bus, for
In the current online analysis architecture (min-order path in
example, the D5000 Data Bus [Xin(2015)]. If significant
Fig.5), the grid Node/Breaker physical device model (used by
changes in the grid operation state or some disturbance
the SCADA and State Estimation applications) and the grid
(switching or fault) is detected, a simulation request will be
Bus/Branch logical analysis model (used by the periodical
sent to the online grid analysis model to perform IMC-based
online analysis applications) are running in sequence. The
analysis. The response to the simulation request would be fast
grid Node/Breaker physical device model updates the grid
and in real-time, since the analysis data are pre-prepared and
analysis mode periodically by feeding the power grid analysis
stored in the data grid, such that the data movement to fulfill
data. The data processing and computation response speed is
the simulation request could be minimized. In addition, the
in the order of minutes. Currently, a round DSA analysis trip
simulation data, representing the current grid operation state,
in the power dispatching centers in China takes about 10
stored in the online grid analysis model could be used to
minutes to complete. In the proposed new online analysis
drive the downstream online analysis applications in real-
system architecture, the grid Node/Breaker physical device
time, as shown in Fig.5.
model and the grid Bus/Branch logical analysis model are
running in parallel. The grid Bus/Branch logical analysis 2) Future-State Loadflow Analysis: In a power dispatch
mode gets updated in real-time by subscribing the power grid center, the future grid operation state could be predicted or
change events published by the SCADA system. The data estimated based on a) the scheduled change to the power
processing and computation are event-driven. The response grid; b) the short-term load prediction; or c) the potential
speed of the sec-order path in Fig.5 is designed to be in the future grid operation state manually defined by the grid
order of seconds. operator. There is a desire to perform online analysis of these
potential future states to identify possible security risks in

135
IFAC CPES 2018
136
Tokyo, Japan, September 4-6, 2018 Mike Zhou et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-28 (2018) 132–137
real-time. As the first step, we need to establish a future-state
Loadflow analysis case to be used by the future-state analysis
applications. Based on the online grid analysis model, the
future-state Loadflow case could be created in three main
steps: a) Starting from the online grid analysis model, a copy
is made to create a new network analysis model object; b)
Changes based on the prediction or estimation are applied to
update the model object; c) Loadflow analysis is performed
on the model object using the IMC-based analysis approach.
Then the model object, representing some future grid
operation state, with converged Loadflow analysis results
could be used to drive the downstream online analysis
applications in real-time, as shown in Fig.5.
3) Sensitivity Analysis: Power network sensitivity is
commonly used to evaluate the proposed power grid online
control and adjustment actions. Using the online grid analysis
model and the IMC-based analysis approach, sensitivities,
such as GSF (Generator Shifting Factor) or LODF (Line
Outage Distribution Factor), of the current power grid
operation state, could be calculated in real-time. Currently, in
the power dispatching centers in China, the sensitivity is
calculated periodically and then stored in the database.
Online applications could access the stored sensitivity info
through a database lookup [Hui(2015)].
5. SAMPLE CASES AND RESULTS
This section presents a set of testing results. The primary goal
is to use a large-scale real-world online power network model
to investigate the applicability of the IMC-based power grid
analysis approach in terms of computation efficiency when
the approach is used to handle the large-scale online analysis
case.
5.1 Sample Case Description
The online power network model used for the testing in this
section was directly exported from the D5000 EMS
production system deployed in the Chinese national power
dispatching center. The power network model had 41219
Buses, 34028 Branches, 12 HVDC Lines. Also, there are
inactive buses, branches, and islands in the network model.
A laptop computer with 4 Core, 8 MB RAM, running
Windows 10 operating system with 8 hyper-threads, was
used for the testing, except the testing scenario in Section-
5.4. Multiple JVMs (Java Virtual Machine) were running on
the laptop to emulate a distributed computing environment to
host the Hazelcast data grid software system [Hazelcast
(2018)]. The online network model was stored in a set of files
in the PSASP format, defined by China Electric Power
Research Institute. An adapter to import the PSASP format
Loadflow files to create online grid analysis model objects
has been developed. The model object was first imported into
a local client program, then serialized and stored into the data
grid, ready to perform an IMC-based analysis.
5.2 Loadflow Calculation
The starting point for the testing was that a network model
object had been created and stored in the data grid. Some
changes were made to create a scenario to represent certain
future grid operating state. In the testing, the 40K-Bus
136
network model was first stored in the data grid, and the
following two scenarios were created:
1) Case-1: Load at a 220kV bus was increased by 50MW.
The load increase was picked up by a generator by increasing
its active power output 50MW.
2) Case-2: Load at a 220kv bus was increased by 50MW.
The load increase was picked up by three generators by
increasing the active power output 25MW, 15MW and
10MW respectively.
Table 1. Loadflow Calculation Test Results
Case-1 Case-2
Time(sec) 0.358 0.346
The Loadflow calculation testing results are shown in Table-
1. The Newton-Raphson method was used in the Loadflow
calculation. It took two iterations for the Loadflow
calculation to converge. It has to be pointed out that there is
not much difference in computation efficiency between the
IMC-based Loadflow calculation and the regular Loadflow
implementation found in any existing commercial power
system simulation software. In the online analysis situation,
using the IMC-based approach, the Loadflow calculation
input data had already been stored in the data grid in the
power network analysis object model form, and Loadflow
calculation algorithm can be applied to the object directly
through highly efficient in-memory data exchange. This kind
of IMC-based analysis approach could make the large-scale
power grid analysis in the distributed computing environment
much more efficient.
5.3 Sensitivity Analysis
The grid analysis model hosted in the data grid can provide
fast sensitivity analysis service for other online analysis
applications. In the 40K-Bus network model, there are 1579
generator buses and 1593 branches connected to these
generator buses. Computation time for the 1579 GSF
calculations and the 1593 LODF calculations are shown in
Table-2. As can be seen that the IMC-based sensitivity
analysis service is very fast with sub-second response speed.
Table 2. Sensitivity Calculation Test Results
Page Bus GFS Branch LODF Total
Time(sec) 0.584 0.370 0.954
5.4 Parallel Computation
The IMDG-based grid analysis model (Grid Analysis Model
in Fig.5) supports parallel computation implementation.
Parallel computation algorithms could be implemented on top
of the grid analysis model at three levels: a) Multi-process
level; b) Multi-case level; or c) Algorithm level
[Zhou(2018b)]. The parallel implementation at these three
levels can be run in the distributed data grid.
1) Multi-case level Parallel Computation Testing: The grid
analysis model, which is based on the InterPSS power
network object model [Zhou(1996), InterPSS(2007)], is
multi-thread safe. Multiple objects, each representing a
simulation case, could reside in one JVM process, and these
objects could be processed in parallel. Multi-case level
parallel computation implementation testing results are
shown in Table-3, using the 40K-Bus network model as the
 IFAC CPES 2018
Tokyo, Japan, September 4-6, 2018 Mike Zhou et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-28 (2018) 132–137 137
base simulation test case. In the testing process, multiple
Loadflow calculation jobs (Par. Jobs), from 1 to 32, were
created and run in parallel. The total simulation time and
acceleration ratios (Acc. Ratio) are shown. The testing
hardware had 4 cores with 8 hyper-threads with a theoretical
acceleration ratio of 4 times. As can be seen, when the
number of parallel jobs was equal or larger than 8, the
acceleration ratios were in the range of 3.75~3.79, which
were very close to the maximum possible value of 4.
Table 3. Results for Case-Level Parallel Computing
Par. Jobs 1 2 4 8 16 32
Time(s) 0.34 0.38 0.45 0.72 1.46 2.89
Acc. Ratio - 1.88 2.99 3.79 3.75 3.78
2) Algorithm level Parallel Computation Testing: Certain
types of simulation algorithms could be designed and
implemented such that the network object model is in read-
only mode during the execution of the algorithm. These types
of algorithms are multi-thread safe and can apply to the
network object model in parallel [Zhou(2018b)]. Algorithm
level parallel computation implementation testing results are
shown in Table-4, again using the 40K-Bus network model as
the simulation test case. The testing hardware was a high-
performance server machine with 4 CPU and total 40 cores.
Table 4. Test Results for Algo-Level Parallel Computing
Sen. Cal. N-1 CA Total
Parallel(s) 0.61 1.06 1.67
Sequential(s) 6.79 41.61 48.40
In the testing, approximately total 13000 sensitivity
calculations and 13884 N-1 contingency analysis (CA) runs
were performed. As can be seen in the table, the total
computation time for a complete N-1 CA of the large-scale
power network model could be achieved in less than 2
seconds with the parallel approach, and with an acceleration
ratio of approximate 29 as compared with the sequential (no
parallelism) approach. There were four main steps in the
calculation process: 1) LU decomposition of the [B]-matrix;
2) Sensitivity calculation; 3) Caching the sensitivity result; 4)
N-1 CA calculation. Not all the steps could be parallelized.
The computations in Step-1 and Step-3 were sequential,
while the computations in Step-2 and Step-4 were parallel.
The primary goal of in-memory computing is to minimize the
data movement during the computation process in the
distributed computing environment. It should be pointed out
that the simulation algorithm implementation in the IMC-
based approach is almost the same as any conventional
implementation. The testing results presented in the section
have let us believe that the IMC-based approach is ready to
be used to implement the new and fast next-generation online
DSA system, and deployed in the modern power dispatching
center.
6. CONCLUSIONS
An in-memory computing (IMC) based power grid analysis
approach is proposed in this paper to address the hard-disk
and network “I/O” bottleneck problem in the large-scale
power grid online analysis in the distributed computing
environment found in the modern power dispatching center.
An IMC-based power grid analysis software system
137
architecture is presented. The application of the IMC-based
analysis approach to online power grid analysis and three
potential online analysis application scenarios are discussed.
Using a large-scale online power network model (40K+
buses), which was exported directly from the online EMS
system currently running in the national power dispatching
center in China, as a sample case, IMC-based simulations
were performed, and the testing results are presented. The
testing simulation results and the analysis of the simulation
performance/efficiency have let us believe that the IMC-
based analysis approach is capable of handling real-world
large-scale power grid online analysis cases and ready to be
used to implement the new and fast next-generation online
DSA system, and deployed in the modern power dispatching
center.
REFERENCES
Apache Spark, (2012). Spark cluster-computing framework.
(Available on the Web: http://spark.apache.org/)
Hazelcast, (2018). Hazelcast in-memory data grid. (Available on the
Web: https://hazelcast.com/)
Hui, S., Zhang S.Y., (2015). Optimization modelling of static secu-
rity online decision support for provincial power grid. Auto-
mation of Electric Power Systems, Vol. 39, No. 20, pp. 98-102.
InterPSS, (2007) The InterPSS community site. (Available on the
Web: http://www.interpss.org/)
Jin, H., Liao, X.F., Ye, C.C., (2013). In-memory computing:
opportunities and challenges for big data processing.
Communications of The CCF, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp.40-46.
Li, G.L. and Li, G.Y., (2005). The summary of power system
simulation software. Journal of Electrical & Electronic
Education. Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 61-65.
Qu, Z.Y., Zhu, L., Zhang, S.L., (2013). Data processing of Hadoop-
based wide area measurement system. Automation of Electric
Power Systems, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 92-97.
SAP, (2018). SAP HANA in-memory database management system.
(Available on the Web: https://www.sap.com/products/hana/
features/in-memory-database.html/)
Tian, F., Huang, Y.H., Shi D.Y., et al, (2014). Developing trend of
power system simulation and analysis technology. Proceedings
of the CSEE, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 2151-2163.
Wang, D.W., (2012). Basic framework and key technology for a
new generation of data center in electric power corporation
based on cloud computation. Automation of Electric Power
Systems, Vol. 36, No. 11, pp. 67-71.
Xin, Y.Z., et al, (2015). Technology development trends of smart
grid dispatching and control systems. Automation of Electric
Power Systems, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 2-8.
Zheng, C., Hou, J.X., Yan, J.F., et al, (2010). Functional design and
implementation of online dynamic security assessment and
early warning system. Power System Technology, Vol. 34, No.
3, pp. 55-60.
Zhou, E., (1996). Object-oriented programming C++ and power sys-
tem simulation. IEEE Trans. on Power Systems, Vol. 11, No. 1.
Zhou, M., (2013). Distributed parallel power system simulation.
High Performance Computing in Power and Energy Systems,
pp.71-100, Berlin Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag.
Zhou, M., Yan, J.F., (2018a). A new solution architecture for online
power system analysis. Journal of Power and Energy System，
Vol. 4, No. 2, June 2018:49-55.
Zhou, M., Huang, Q.H., (2018b). InterPSS: A new generation power
system simulation engine. https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10875,
(unpublished).