Variations Exercises

December 15th – 17th, 2020

Grid Expansion
Defining a network Variation with
Expansion Stages
• Aim of the network expansion in this exercise is to connect a new
wind park to the 110 kV network. A new substation will be added and
one of the existing lines will be turned in to the new substation.
• We will define the network model changes using Variations.
1. Browse the network model for the “Variations” folder ( ),
right click and select New -> Variation.
2. Name the new Variation “New Wind Farm”.
3. Press OK.
4. When prompted click Yes to activate the new variation.
• When a new Variation has been created, PowerFactory will
automatically prompt the user to define a first Expansion Stage:
Expansion Stage 1: New Substation
1. Name the Expansion Stage “Stage 1 Substation”.
2. Set its activation time to 1st December 2010 0:00h.
3. When prompted, make sure to set this stage as ‘recording’ Expansion Stage so
that all changes to be introduced are saved to this Expansion Stage.
4. Add a new substation in the Single Line Diagram using a single busbar system
type as depicted in Figure 1.2.
5. Edit the substation and name it “20kV Substation Wind Farm”, short name:
“20 WF”. Make sure the nominal voltage of the substation is set to 20kV.
6. Add a simple terminal for the high voltage side of the transformer to your grid.
7. Edit the terminal and name it “110 WF”. Make sure the nominal voltage is
110kV.
8. Select as busbar type “T-SS-110” from the Equipment Type Library for the
substation and the terminal.
Expansion Stage 1: New Substation
9. Connect the terminal and the substation with a 110/20 kV Transformer
with a rated apparent power of 30MVA from the Equipment Type Library.
10. Draw a line from the HV side of the transformer to the line “L-3-1”.
11. Note that the line “L-3-1” is automatically split into two lines. Adjust
their length to 45 km and 5 km (as depicted in Figure 1.2 and Figure 1.1).
12. Change the type of the split line “L-3-1” to “Al/St 185/30”. You’ll find this
type in the Equipment Type Library.
13. Edit the new line:
• Name: Line Wind Park
• Type: Al/St 185/30
• Length: 2 km
14. Check data for consistency and perform a load-flow calculation.
Connecting the new line as Branch-off
Element from the existing line “L-3-2”

Figure 1.1
Network with the new Variation
(all Expansion Stages)

Figure 1.2
Expansion Stage 2: New Wind Farm
1. Create a new Expansion Stage called “Stage 2 Wind Farm Phase A”. Set its
activation time to 30th December 2010 18:00h.
2. Ensure that the following changes will be recorded in this expansion stage.
3. Add a Static Generator to the substation. This generator represents a wind
farm with 5 x 2 MVA wind generators:
• Therefore set the Category to Wind Generator.
• Set the name of the Static Generator to “WindGenA”.
• Set the Number of Parallel Machines to 5.
• Set the nominal apparent power to 2 MVA and the nominal power factor to 1.
• Dispatch the Static Generator on the load flow page with P = 2 MW (Q = 0 Mvar) each.
• Set the Max. Active Power Operational Limit to 2 MW.
4. Check data for consistency and perform a load-flow calculation.
Expansion Stage 3:
Expansion of the Wind Farm
1. Create a new expansion stage called “Stage 3 Wind Farm Phase B”.
Set its activation time to 01.06.2011, 16:00h. Ensure that the
following changes will be recorded in this expansion stage.
2. In Stage 3 the wind park will be enlarged with 5 x 3 MVA wind
generators. These will be represented by a new Static Generator: 
Add a new Static Generator to “20kV Substation Wind Farm”.
1. Set the name of the new Static Generator to “WindGenB”.
2. Set the category of the new Static Generator to ‘Wind Generator’.
3. Set the nominal apparent power to 3 MVA and the nominal power factor to
1. Dispatch the static generator on the load flow page with 3 MW each.
4. Set the Max. Active Power Operational Limit to 3 MW.
3. Check data for consistency and perform a load-flow calculation.
Alternative Variation

• Analyse an alternative connection of the wind farm in a different

Variation (name it “Wind Farm Alternative Connection”). In this
variation the wind farm should be connected to line „L-3-1“ in 10 km
distance from „ST-2“. The line connecting the wind farm and line “L-3-
1” has to be 12 km long.
Displaying changes introduced
to the network
• Color the diagrams according to ‘Recording Expansion Stage
Modifications’.
• Activate and deactivate the complete Variation and see the difference
in the Single Line Diagram.
• Also change the Study Time and see the difference in the Single Line
Diagram.
Reporting Modifications
of an Expansion Stage
• Print the modifications of an Expansion Stage into the output window
of PowerFactor.
Variation Scheduler
A Variation Scheduler allows you to temporarily change the activating
times of the Expansion Stages.
1. Define a Variation Scheduler for Variation “New Wind Farm”.
2. Reschedule the Expansion Stages of this Variation with the Variation
Scheduler, so that Expansion Stage “Stage 2 Wind Farm Phase A“
comes later than “Stage 3 Wind Farm Phase B”.
3. Run a load flow calculation with Stage 3 active, but Stage 2
deactive.
4. Afterwards deactivate the Variation Scheduler again
Combining Variations and Operation Scenarios
Combining Variations and
Operation Scenarios
Please activate the Variation again. It’s possible to analyse this Variation with several Study Times
in combination with different Operation Scenarios. Operation Scenarios can be activated
independently from Variations.
1. Activate the Variation „New Wind Farm“ and the Expansion Stage “Stage 3 Wind Farm Phase
B”.
2. Create and activate an additional Operation Scenario and call it “Medium Wind”. Set the
active power of Static Generator “Wind Generators A” to 1 MW (of each machine), and the
active power of Static Generator “Wind Generators B” to 1,5 MW (of each machine). Save the
Operation Scenario.
3. Create a new Operation Scenario called “High Wind”, activate, and save it with wind power
generation set to 100 %.
4. Define a new Operation Scenario “Low Wind” set the active power of the wind turbines up to
30% of their nominal active power.
5. Execute load flow calculations with these different Operation Scenarios.
6. Also create 3 additional operation scenarios for the loads: Default (1 x Pn), Peak Demand (1,1
x Pn) and Low Demand (0,8 x Pn).
Comparing Operation Scenarios
We want to compare now the changes introduced in low and high load
scenarios with regard to the basis scenario ‘Default’.
1. Deactivate any active scenario.
2. Edit the scenario “Default” and compare it with the “Off-Peak
Demand” scenario first. PowerFactory prints a report to the output
window. Notice that changes are reported according to scenario
data subsets. Analyse the comparison. You might want to activate
the scenarios again and verify modifications as reported.
3. Compare also the scenarios “Default” and “Peak Demand”.
Applying operational data from
one Operation Scenario to another
You can transfer operational data from one Operation Scenario into
another by applying a set of operational data.
1. Copy the Operation Scenario „High Wind“ and name the copy „Peak
Demand with High Wind“.
2. Activate the Operation Scenario „Peak Demand with High Wind“
3. Apply the Demand Data from the Operational Scenario „Peak
Demand“ (click with the right mouse on it…) to the active Operation
Scenario.
4. Create an Operation Scenario “Off-Peak Demand with High Wind” in
the same way.
 Location of the Operation Scenarios
in the Data Manager

Figure 2.1
Study Cases
• With Study Cases you can manage the activation status of Grids,
Variations and Operation Scenarios. Therefore, you can define
numerous Study Cases, each reflecting a particular status of the
model. Once the Study Cases have been defined you can easily
change the model without repeatedly having to activate/ deactive
individual Grids, Variations and operation Scenarios.
• Define some Study Cases with different Variations and Expansion
Stages being active, e. g. a Study Case “Base Case” (no Variation and
no Operation Scenario active), a Study Case “Wind Farm A – Peak
Demand - High Wind”, a Study Case “Wind Farm A – Off-Peak
Demand” etc.
Working with templates
Creating a template for the wind farm
• To create a template for the wind farm, please do the following:
1. Mark the whole wind farm, including the transformer and HV
terminal, but without the connecting line.
2. Right-click any element of the selection and select “Define
template”.
3. Name the new template “Wind Farm”.
Creating a template for the wind farm
The template is now ready to be used. You can find the template and the contained
elements in the “Templates” folder of your project library. The following steps will
show you, how an existing template is reinserted to your grid.
1. Create a new variation “Additional Wind Farm” with only one expansions stage.
Make sure the variation is active and the expansion stage is set as recording
stage. Set the activation time of the expansion stage to 1st March 2011.
2. Click the “General Templates” button ( ) in your drawing toolbar on the right.
3. Select the “Wind Farm” template from the list and click once into the drawing
area of your grid.
4. Now place the wind farm next to line “L-3-2”. Hit the “ESC” button to lose the
template from your mouse pointer and close the selection window.
5. Connect the new wind farm with a line identical to the one used before.
6. Check the consistency with a load flow calculation.
Custom substation templates
In order to create a new substation layout, the best way is to start with a completely
new substation. Please deactivate all Variations before you continue.
1. Place a substation with tie breaker somewhere in your grid and open the detailed
view of the substation.
2. Change the size of the drawing format for the detailed view to A4, Landscape.
3. Copy one section of the substation (e.g. BB2) and the connected elements and
paste them next to the existing substation.
4. Select the circuit breaker from the symbol tool box and connect the copied section
with the rest of the substation.
5. Right-click on an empty space of the detailed view and select “Define template”.
Name the new template “3-Bus-Station”
6. Go back to the single line diagram and add the substation with the new layout to
you grid. The substation templates can be accessed via the “General busbar
systems” button ( ).
Custom substation templates
As you can see, the new substation still has only two busbars in the single line diagram
representation. To amend this issue, place it somewhere in your grid and open the
detailed view of the substation.
1. Now select the third busbar and the bus coupling breaker and copy them.
2. Return to the single line diagram, right-click near the newly placed substation and select
“Paste Graphic Only”. Place the graphic representation of the busbar next to the existing
substation.
3. Redraw the bus coupling breaker in the single line diagram, so that it is properly
connection the existing and the additional busbars.
4. To change the symbol of the breaker to the familiar black box, right-click the breaker and
select “Change Symbol”. Select the “LogSwitch”.
5. Now select the whole three busbar system, right-click the selection and select “Define
substation template”.
6. Name the template “New 3-Bus-Station”
7. Test if the newly define template works, by placing a new substation in your grid.
Custom substation templates
As you can see, the new substation still has only two busbars in the single line
diagram representation. To amend this issue, place it somewhere in your grid and
open the detailed view of the substation.
1. Now select the third busbar and the bus coupling breaker and copy them.
2. Return to the single line diagram, right-click near the newly placed substation
and select “Paste Graphic Only”. Place the graphic representation of the
busbar next to the existing substation.
3. Redraw the bus coupling breaker in the single line diagram, so that it is
properly connection the existing and the additional busbars.
4. To change the symbol of the breaker to the familiar black box, right-click the
breaker and select “Change Symbol”. Select the “LogSwitch”.
5. Now select the whole three busbar system, right-click the selection and select
“Define substation template”.
Overview Diagrams and Detailed Single Line Diagrams
Drawing an Overview Diagram
• Create a new network diagram based on the 110 kV Grid and name it
“Overview Diagram 110 kV”.
• Represent the already existing substations “ST-1”, “ST-2”, and “ST-3” of
the 110 kV grid in the overview diagram.
• Before we draw the lines between the Composite Nodes, please open
the Graphic Options (button ) of the Overview Diagram:
• In the ‘Drawing Tools’ section disable the ‘Snap’ option.
• Set the Ortho Type to ‘Ortho Off’.
• Draw the already existing lines, which connect the displayed
substations of the 110 kV grid.
Drawing an Overview Diagram
Working with Simplified and Detailed Single
Line Diagrams and with Overview Diagrams
In the last section of this exercise you have drawn an Overview Diagram
of the 110 kV grid. In order to see a detailed representation of a
Substation:
• Simply double click on one of the Composites Nodes in the Overview
Diagram.
From the Single Line Diagram you can achieve a Substation Diagram by
1. clicking with the right mouse button on a Substation,
2. selecting Show Detailed Substation Graphic from the context
sensitive menu.
Working with Simplified and Detailed Single
Line Diagrams and with Overview Diagrams
Watch the detailed Substation Diagrams for all Substations in the 110
kV Grid. Colour the Substation Diagram of “ST-1” according to the
connectivity of the elements:
1. Open Substation Diagram of the Substation “ST-1”.
2. Press the ‘Colour Representation’ button () in the icon bar.
3. Select the Colouring according to ‘Station Connectivity’.
Working with Simplified and Detailed Single
Line Diagrams and with Overview Diagrams
Watch the coloring of the Substation. Afterwards change the switching
status of the breakers by double clicking on the breakers in order to:
• Connect the transformers “T-PP-1” and “T-PP-2” to busbar “B0.1”.
• Disconnect the transformers “T-PP-1” and “T-PP-2” from busbar
“B0.0”.
• Open the coupling bus-tie breaker / disconnectos.
Working with Simplified and Detailed Single
Line Diagrams and with Overview Diagrams
The busbar “B0.0” is isolated now, what is indicated by green color.
Now, change the switching status of the breakers as follows:
• Transformer “T-PP-1” shall be connected to busbar “B0.0” only.
• Transformer “T-PP-2” shall be connected to busbar “B0.0” only.
• Line “L-1-1” shall be connected to busbar “B0.0” only.
• Line “L-1-2” shall be connected to busbar “B0.1” only.
• Line “L-2-1” shall be connected to busbar “B0.0” only.
• The bus-tie coupling shall remain open.
Working with Simplified and Detailed Single
Line Diagrams and with Overview Diagrams
Afterwards take a look at the Single Line Diagram of the 110 kV grid again.
The connectivity is displayed by empty or filled dots resp.
1. Now open the disconnectors of line “L-3-1” either
• by Double clicking on the little squares at the ends of the lines, or
• by clicking with the right mouse button on the line and selecting Switch Off
from the context-sensitive menu.
2. Display the Substation Diagram of “ST-2” and examine which breakers are
open and which are closed.
3. Display the Overview Diagram and examine the colouring.
4. Go to the Single Line Diagram again and close the disconnectors of line
“L-3-1” again, either
• by Double clicking on the little empty squares at the ends of the lines, or
• by clicking with the right mouse button on the line and selecting Switch On
from the context-sensitive menu.
Working with Simplified and Detailed Single
Line Diagrams and with Overview Diagrams
5. Now we want to isolate the line completely and earth it:
• Click with the right mouse button on line “L-3-1” and selecting
Isolate from the context-sensitive menu.
• Check the connectivity and the status of the breakers in the different
diagrams.
• Afterwards display the Substation Diagram of “ST-2”.
• Open the dialogue of the Terminal, which is located directly at the
end of line “L-3-1” by double clicking on the dot. This Terminal is
marked as “Earthed” automatically with the Isolation of the line.
6. Click with the right mouse button on the isolated line and select Jump
to Next Page from the context sensitive menu.
7. Select the “Substation ST-3”. The Diagram of this Substation will be
displayed.
Working with Simplified and Detailed Single
Line Diagrams and with Overview Diagrams
8. Click with the right mouse button on the line “L-3-1” and select
Energize.
9. Examine the switching statuses of the breakers.
10. Afterwards jump to the Overview Diagram again and examine the
coloring. What has happened?
11. Go to the Substation Diagram of “ST-2” again and close one of the
disconnectors.
(Optional) Working with a Multi-User Database
Derived Projects
A Derived Project is based on a specific Version of the Base Project. A
Version is a marker in time, or time stamp. The Base Project’s Version is
released by the project administrator(s).
1. Define a Derived Project of the Base Project, “PF Project V14.0”,
which is located in the „Public Area“. Use version „Version 1“ of the
Base Project.
2. Use the Data manager to find the find the new Derived Project
within your “User Area”.
3. Edit the properties of the Derived Project and find the references to
the Base Project and its Version.
Versions
• The Version marks the status of the project at a particular date and
time. A Version may be used for the following purpose:
• To manage the origin of Derived projects in a multi-user database.
• To undue all project modifications made after a specific date and
time.
• Please create a Version of your Derived Project, and name this version
"Version 1 - Initial State". Please use the current date and time for the
Version, and note that it is possible to enter a historic date and time.
Roll Back
1. Deactivate all Variations and all Operation Scenarios. Make a note of the
present date and time.
2. Right-click on the expansion stage “Stage 1 Substation 9” and select Apply
Changes. This action writes all changes, which are part of this Expansion
Stage, directly into the network data. We now assume that this step was
undesirable and should be undone.
3. While the project remains active, undo the changes using the Undo button .
Please note that following the deactivation and reactivation of a project, such
Undo operations are not possible. Check that the changes have been undone.
4. Apply the changes within the stage “Stage 1 Substation 9” as before.
5. To restore the state of the latest version, deactivate the project, right-click on
the most recently defined Version (“Version 1 - Initial State”) and select “Roll
back to this version”. This will reset the project to the state of exercise 1.2.
Finding Referenced Elements
In this example, we wish to identify all lines using a specific line type.
1. Open the data manager, and go to the line types in the Equipment Type
Library.
2. Search for the line type “Al/St 185/30”.
3. Now to get a list of all lines which use this line type (in the sense of the
database structure, the lines which refer to the line type), right-click on the
line type and select „Output -> Reference List“.
4. A list containing all lines which refer to this type is output in the output
window.
5. Double-click on the first line in this list, and increase the line length by 0.5
km.
6. Following this modification, close the line element dialogue by clicking on
OK.
Comparing and Merging Projects
1. Copy the Project.
2. Activate the copy of the project, and set the line length that was
previously altered in exercise 1.4, back to its original length.
3. Deactivate the project.
4. Compare both projects. The first project that you created is selected
as the base project for comparison; while the second project is the
project to compare.
5. Take the correction of line length over to your base project (i. e. to
the first project that you created).
6. Check that your base project once again contains the correct line
length, and then delete the copy of the project.
Additional detailed Instructions
Single-Line Coloring Mode
• Press the button to open the coloring dialog.
• Select the coloring mode.
• Change the data when required for the selected mode.
• Enabling the option "Show Color Legend" will create a legend in the
active single line diagram.
• You can move and resize the legend by using the graphics cursor.
• The button "apply to all graphics" will change the coloring mode not
only for the active diagram, but for all diagrams in the active graphics
board.
Define/Change a Flexible Page Format
• A browser with objects can be put into detailed mode by pressing the
button. The left-most tab-pagers at the bottom of the
browser it the "Flexible Data" tab. Press this to show the flexible data.
• To change the columns in the flexible page, press the button. This
brings a selection window, where you can create, select or edit a set
of variables. If a variable set is edited, then a variable set manager will
pop up. This variable set manager shows in the left pane the available
variables, and in the right pane the selected variables. Press the << or
>> buttons to move the selected variable from the one to the other
pane. Use the various filter settings to show more available variables.
• The flexible page will show each selected variable in a separate
column.
Copy a Flexible Data page
• Click with the right mouse button on the ‘Flexible Data’ tab.
• Select Copy Page from the context sensitive menu.
Rename a Flexible Data page
• Click with the right mouse button on the ‘Flexible Data’ tab.
• Select Rename Page from the context sensitive menu.
• Enter the new name “Connected Generation and Load”
Reporting Modifications on
an Expansion Stage

• Activate a Variation.
• Click the Recording Expansion Stage with the right mouse
button.
• Select Output -> Modifications from the context-sensitive
menu.
• A list with all modifications done by this Expansion Stage will
be printed into the Output Window.
Defining a Variation Scheduler:
• Click with the right mouse button on a Variation inside the
Data Manager.
• Select New -> Variation Scheduler.
• In the content of the Variation Scheduler you can specify the
new (temporarily) Activations Times of the Expansion Stages.
In order to create
an Overview Diagram proceed as follows:
• Open the file menu of PowerFactory.
• Select New -> Single Line Diagram.
• Select the according grid.
• Enter the name of the diagram.
• A new empty graphic page will be displayed.
In order to represent already existing Substations as Beach Ball symbols in an
Overview Diagram:
• Press the ‘Draw Existing Net Elements’ button ( ) in the local
toolbar.
• Select the Composite Node (Substation) ( or ) from the
Drawing Toolbox.
• Select a Substation in the browser window
• Click with the left mouse button into the Overview Diagram to place
the Substation. Alternatively you can enable the Drag & Drop option
in the status bar at the bottom of the ‘Object Filter’ browser window
and drag the Substation from the table into the diagram.
• Once the Composite Nodes are placed in the diagram, you can mark
them with the mouse and change their size by simply drag the corners
of the marking frame.
In order to represent already existing lines
in an Overview Diagram:
• Press the ‘Draw Existing Net Elements’ button ( ) in the local
toolbar.
• Select the line symbol from the Drawing Toolbox.
• To filter the lines shown in the table of the ‘Object Filter’ browser
window to the ones, which are connectable to the already drawn
Composite Nodes, press the button ‘Elements which can be
completely connected’ ( ).
• Select one of the lines in the table. Note that the nodes, to which the
line has to be connected, are marked automatically in the diagram.
• Draw the line between the marked Composite Nodes in the diagram.
Represent Controllers in
the Single Line Diagram

• Click with the right mouse button on an empty area of the

single line graphic.
• Select Create Textbox.
• Select a controller.
• Define the textbox in order to display the name of the
controller.
Show the detailed representation
of a substation

• Right-click on a substation in the single line diagram.

• Select “Show Detailed Graphic of Substation”