SOFTWARE EDITIONS & LICENSING

SOFTWARE EDITIONS
Several PowerFactory editions are offered, to suit different business requirements and IT architectures.

SINGLE-USER EDITION TEAM EDITION

This edition is recommended for end users who want to install, This edition is recommended for multi-user groups requiring
­administer and use the software themselves on their local ­machines. access to centralised project data and data sharing among group
members. It features a multi-user data-base (ORACLE, SQL
 Database: Local (SQLite)
­Server, PostgreSQL 2), with automatic database housekeeping
(e.g. schedulable overnight) and integrated project backup tools.
POWERFACTORY
LICENCE
The users benefit from the PowerFactory team-working tools
POWERFACTORY such as Master Project management, Project Versioning, Project
DATABASE
Deriving along with Project Compare and Merge tools, which
facilitate concurrent model building and data entry. The Team
Edition comes with a licence server (as for the Multi-User Edition),
MULTI-USER EDITION and the PowerFactory Administrator user can configure individual
user accounts or user groups in order to manage their access to
This edition is recommended for organisations who need to
specific licence modules.
manage multiple user licences. A licence server (which comes
with the PowerFactory software) provides and manages the
As with the Multi-User edition, a “floating licence” module
licences, which are accessed by the individual users via the local
is offered. In Team Edition, this also enables the user to work
network. The number of concurrent users is limited according to
independently from both the licence server and database, using
the number of licences that have been purchased.
so-called “offline mode”.1
An optional “floating licence” module is offered, which allows an
 Database: multi-user DBMS (Oracle, SQL Server or PostgreSQL 2)
individual to use PowerFactory without the need for a connection
to the licence server.1

 Database: Local (SQLite) POWERFACTORY

MULTI-USER DATABASE
SERVER

POWERFACTORY
DATABASE
POWERFACTORY NETWORK
LICENCE SERVER

POWERFACTORY
LICENCE SERVER
NETWORK

POWERFACTORY POWERFACTORY
DATABASE DATABASE

1 The floating licence on a local machine is time-limited (maximum 30 days). This feature is not available for cloud-based softkeys.
2 From PowerFactory 2022 onwards
LICENCE TYPES
PowerFactory licences are offered in the categories commercial (PF4C) and educational / research licences (PF4E / PF4R).
Special licences are available for students (PF4S / PF4T).

COMMERCIAL LICENCE (PF4C)

This licence is the standard licence for commercial use.

 Functions: package can be configured individually to the user’s needs
 Number of nodes: 100 / 250 / 500 / unlimited
 Licence technology: Softkey, USB Dongle3 or Cloud-based Softkey 3
 Support, maintenance and software upgrades included
– for the first 12 months of a standard perpetual licence, extendable annually under a maintenance contract
– in a subscription licence, for the duration of the licence

RESEARCH LICENCE (PF4R) THESIS LICENCE (PF4T)

This licence is offered to academic and research institutions
for use in publicly funded research projects, i.e. projects
financed by governments or other non-profit organisations.
Commercial use is not allowed.
 Functions: pre-defined package4
 Number of nodes: unlimited
 Licence technology: Softkey or USB Dongle3
 Support, maintenance and software upgrades included
during the first 12 months, extendable annually by a
­maintenance subscription
This licence is offered to individual students working on a
non-­sponsored Bachelor / Master / PhD thesis, who do not
have access to a research (PF4R) or educational (PF4E)
licence. C
­ ommercial use is not allowed.
 Functions: defined according to the scope of work of the
thesis
 Number of nodes: as required for the thesis
 Licence technology: Softkey
 Limited support5 and software upgrades

STUDENT LICENCE (PF4S) EDUCATION LICENCE (PF4E)

This licence is offered to individual students who have a This licence is offered to universities and other academic
valid student ID card. Commercial use is not allowed. institutions for education purposes. The licence is particular-
ly suitable for use in practical courses of up to 25 students.
 Functions: pre-defined package4
Commercial use is not allowed.
 Number of nodes: 50
 Licence technology: Softkey  Functions: pre-defined package4
 Limited support5 and software upgrades  Number of nodes: 50
 Licence technology: Softkey or USB Dongle3
 Limited support5 and software upgrades

3 At additional cost.
4 See: https://www.digsilent.de/en/software-editions-licensing.html
5 For more information refer to the PowerFactory Maintenance and Support Services Flyer
LICENCE TECHNOLOGIES
Licences can be provided via the following technologies:

SOFTKEY CLOUD-BASED SOFTKEY6

A non-physical medium (file on disk) that resides on and is bound to
a specific computer. It can be moved from one machine to another,
but this is limited to two moves per calendar year.
It cannot be used in virtual environments.
USB DONGLE6
A physical USB device that needs to be plugged into the machine.
It can be used non-concurrently by different users on different
machines. The dongle can be used in virtual environments either by
connecting it to the USB port of the physical machine hosting the
VM or by using a “USB over network” solution.
An extension of the regular softkey technology for licence servers,
where the licence information is stored on an external host in
­Germany, operated by a contracted service provider. The local
licence server acts as a proxy only and forwards all licence requests
to the external host. A permanent internet connection from the
customer’s licence server to the external host is required.7
The external host service is operated in accordance with ISO
EN9001:2015 and ISO/IEC27001, and a contracted availability of
99.95 % per calendar month, excluding potential maintenance
­activities. Necessary maintenance actions will be kept to a mini-
mum and customers will be informed seven days in advance.
The cloud-based softkey can be used in virtual environments as it
is completely independent from any physical device.
Cloud-based softkeys are only offered in combination with a valid
maintenance contract. On expiration of the maintenance contract,
the cloud-based softkey will be converted to a regular softkey or
USB dongle.

LICENCE MODEL
PERPETUAL LICENCE
Perpetual licences provide the right to use the software indefinitely,
and the first year of the Software Maintenance and Support service
is included in the initial purchase price. After the initial 12-month
period, an annual fee is required to renew your Software Mainte-
nance and Support service.
SUBSCRIPTION LICENCE
Subscription licences provide the right to use the software for a
subsequent term of 6 or 12 months, and the Software Maintenance
and Support service is included in the subscription fee. Your sub-
scription will be automatically renewed for the next subscription
term, unless actively cancelled with 30 days’ prior written notice.
Subscription Licences are only offered for Single-User Editions
under commercial use (PF4C).

Subscription Licences are delivered as (cloud-based) Softkeys.

OVERVIEW
PERPETUAL LICENCE
Licence Type Software Edition Licence Technology
Single-User Multi-User Team Edition Softkey USB Dongle 6 Cloud-based Softkey 6

PF4C      
(for Multi-User or Team Edition)

PF4R/PF4E –  –   –
PF4S/PF4T  – –  – –

SUBSCRIPTION LICENCE
Licence Type Software Edition Licence Technology
Single-User Multi-User Team Edition Softkey USB Dongle Cloud-based Softkey

PF4C  – – – – 

6 At additional cost
7 To ensure the provision of quality service to all our customers and to ensure that the behaviour of some does not disadvantage the majority,
you agree to abide to a fair use policy in the sense that the software is operated in a regular manner
ABOUT DIGSILENT
DIgSILENT was founded in 1985 and is a fully independent
and privately owned company located in Gomaringen close
to Stuttgart, Germany. DIgSILENT continued expansion by
establishing offices in Australia, South Africa, Italy, Chile,
Spain, France, the USA and Oman, thereby facilitating
improved service following the world-wide increase in
usage of its software products and services. DIgSILENT has
established a strong partner network in many countries such
as Mexico, Malaysia, UK, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, China and
India. DIgSILENT services and software installations are used
in more than 170 countries.
DIgSILENT produces the leading integrated power system
analysis software PowerFactory, which covers the full range
of functionality from standard features to highly sophis-
ticated and advanced applications including wind power,
distributed generation, real-time simulation and performance
monitoring for system testing and supervision. For various
applications, PowerFactory has become the power industry’s
de-facto standard tool, due to PowerFactory models and
algorithms providing unrivalled accuracy and performance.
StationWare is a central asset management system for
primary and secondary equipment. In addition to handling
locations and devices in a user-definable hierarchy, the
system allows manufacturer-independent protection settings
to be stored and managed in line with customer-specific
workflows. It facilitates the management of a wide variety
of business processes within a company and centralises the
storage of documents. StationWare can be integrated seam-
lessly into an existing IT environment and the interface with
PowerFactory enables the transfer of calculation-relevant
data for protection studies.
DIgSILENT GmbH
Heinrich-Hertz-Straße 9
72810 Gomaringen (Germany)
T: +49 7072 9168-0
mail@digsilent.de
Our Power System Monitoring PFM300 product line features
grid and plant super vision, fault recording, and power quality
and grid characteristics analysis. The Grid Code Compliance
Monitoring PFM300-GCC system also offers compliance au-
diting of power plants with respect to grid code requirements.
This monitoring and non-compliance detection provides the
complete transparency and assurance required by both plant
operators and utilities.
The DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 accredited DIgSILENT Test
Laboratory for NAR Conformity carries out measurements
in accordance with FGW TR3 on the operational type 1
generation plant (directly coupled synchronous machines).
These measurements are carried out in accordance with
the “individual verification procedure” as required by the
German grid connection guidelines VDE-AR-N 4110/20/30.
DIgSILENT has many years of international expertise in the
field of generation and consumption/load systems testing.
The in-house developed and produced measuring systems
enable the testing laboratory to offer customised measuring
solutions for a wide range of power plants and applications.
DIgSILENT GmbH is staffed with experts of various disci-
plines relevant for performing consulting services, research
activities, user training, educational programs and software
development. Highly specialised expertise is available in many
fields of electrical engineering applicable to liberalised power
markets and to the latest developments in power generation
technologies such as wind power and distributed generation.
DIgSILENT has provided expert consulting services to several
prominent PV and wind grid integration studies.
For more information, visit
www.digsilent.de
© DIgSILENT GmbH – 2023-02-01
DIgSILENT GmbH is certified
to the ISO 9001:2015 standard.
More information is available at
www.tuv-sud.com/ms-cert.