12th Bulk Power System Dynamics and Control Symposium - IREP 2025, Sorrento (Italy). 22-27 June 2025
Summary:
This paper presents VFlexP, an open-source, vector-based tool for the time domain simulation, static analysis, and small-signal analysis of hybrid AC/DC power systems, built upon MATLAB-Simulink. Unlike existing tools such as PowerFactory, Simplus Grid Tool, and PSCAD, VFlexP allows for a flexible-complexity representation of all devices without taking any traditional simplification for granted, and the seamless inclusion of new models without extensive modifications. VFlexP has a module to analyse the relevance of the state variables of the model in a given input-output relationship. This information can then be used to simplify the model in subsequent studies. VFlexP has been designed to obtain an accurate initial point for simulation from a conventional power-flow analysis in order to achieve fast initialisation without troublesome and time-consuming initial transients. The tool's graphical user interface groups all power system elements of the same type in a single block, even if they have different parameters, providing a clean representation even for large systems. These characteristics make VFlexP a valuable tool for the detailed analysis and non-linear time simulation of hybrid power systems in a fast-changing scenario, even though, for the time being, the analysis and simulation carried out are limited to a d-q representation of a balanced power system.
Spanish layman's summary:
Este artículo presenta VFlexP, una herramienta de código abierto que usa MATLAB-Simulink para analizar y simular sistemas eléctricos híbridos de forma vectorizada con diferentes niveles de detalle y modelos definidos por el usuario.
English layman's summary:
This paper introduces VFlexP, an open-source tool that uses MATLAB-Simulink to analyse and simulate hybrid power systems in vector-based form with different levels of detail and user-defined models.
Keywords: Flexible complexity, model reduction, small signal analysis, vector-based
Publication date: 2025-06-22.
Citation:
A. Tomás-Martín, C.D. Zuluaga-Ríos, J. Suárez-Porras, B. Kazemtabrizi, J. García-Aguilar, L. Sigrist, A. García-Cerrada, A Vector-Based Flexible-Complexity Tool for Simulation and Small-Signal Analysis of Hybrid AC/DC Power Systems, 12th Bulk Power System Dynamics and Control Symposium - IREP 2025, Sorrento (Italy). 22-27 June 2025.
