UPEC2010

31st Aug - 3rd Sept 2010

Comparison of Matlab PST, PSAT and DigSILENT

for Transient Stability Studies on Parallel HVACHVDC Transmission Lines
A V Ubisse
University of Cape Town
[email protected]

K A Folly
University of Cape Town
[email protected]

Abstract- In this paper, three software packages that allow

HVDC to be modeled are compared; namely: DigSILENT,
Matlab PST (Power System Toolbox) and Matlab PSAT (Power
System Analysis Toolbox). Both steady state and transient
stability studies are performed using the various software
packages. The simulation results are then compared. The
similarities and differences between the results are discussed.
The paper also looks at the modeling capabilities of the various
software packages and their limitations.
Index TermsSteady state, Transient stability, HVACHVDC transmission, DigSILENT, Matlab PST, Matlab PSAT

I.

INTRODUCTION

With the increase in power demand, HVDC has become

a preferred alternative to the conventional AC transmission
system to transmit bulk power over long distances. This is
due to its economical and technical advantages in long
distance power transfer. HVDC links offer suitable solutions
for interconnecting HVAC systems with different frequencies
and it can deliver more power over longer distances with
fewer losses. HVDC systems also offer high controllability
on the power transmitted [1- 5].
When interconnected to HVAC systems, HVDC systems
can improve their performance in terms of their response to
transient stability.
Since HVDC is a relatively new technology when
compared to HVAC, not all existing software packages can
model this type of system accurately and reliably. For this
reason only a limited number of packages that allow HVDC
modeling are used in this paper. The hybrid HVACHVDC
transmission network is investigated.
The three software packages have been validated in [4]
by comparing the HVAC power flow results to the results
given in reference [1]. Since there is no reference against
which to compare the results of the hybrid HVAC-HVDC
network, they are compared between the software packages.
The paper is organized as follows: Section II describes
the software packages used to conduct the simulations;
section III gives a description of the system model used
across all packages. Section IV presents and discusses the
power flow results, section V investigates the impact of a
transient disturbance and section VI presents the conclusions
and limitations for the softwares.

K O Awodele
University of Cape Town
[email protected]

D T Oyedokun
University of Cape Town
[email protected]

II. SOFTWARE PACKAGES

The software packages used are briefly described below:
A. DigSILENT
DigSILENT stands for Digital Simulation and Electrical
Network calculation program and it was developed by
DigSILENT Power Factory. It is a computer aided
engineering tool that is widely used for industrial, utility,
commercial and academic applications.
DigSILENT has the ability to simulate load flow, fault
analysis, harmonic analysis and stability analysis for AC, DC
and AC-DC systems.
The load flow is performed using Newton Raphson
method [5].
DigSILENT does not however allow the user to model
the components from basic component levels, but gives a
choice of built-in configurations that are already modeled.
DigSILENT only allows fifth and sixth order generators to be
modeled, where for the sixth order used in this paper , , d,
q, d and q are the state variables. Simplified generator
models or higher order generator models are not available in
DigSILENT. There are 60 different types of exciter models
(from which 15 are IEEE based models) in its library and 19
different types of Power System Stabilizer (PSS) models.
Loads can be modeled as static loads (constant power,
constant current, constant impedance or a combination of the
three), or as dynamic loads (induction machines, voltage
dependant loads). The transmission lines can be modeled as
lumped equivalent or as distributed equivalent. Capacitors
and filters can also be modeled for reactive power
compensation, filtering harmonics and improving the voltage
in the system. In DigSILENT, HVDC systems (converter
stations) can be modeled in detail; however no modifications
can be done to the system. It allows the converter stations to
be modeled using voltage, active power, reactive power,
current, Gamma and external control.
B. Matlab PST
Power System Toolbox (PST) is Matlab run software that
was developed by Joe Chow. It allows users to model
components and performs AC and AC-DC system analysis
within Matlab environment. It consists of Matlab m-files, data
files and power system application files. It provides dynamic
models of machines and controls for performing damping
controller designs, transient and small-signal stability
simulations [6]. The generators can be modelled from the

simplest model (classical model with two state variables) to

the most complex (sixth order model which uses paper , ,
Ed, Eq, kd and kq are the stave variables for the machines,).
There are only four exciter models available; namely, the
simplified model which is similar to the IEEE AC4A exciter,
however it is represented only by the amplifier characterized
by a gain KA and a time constant TA, IEEE type DC1A, IEEE
type DC2A and ST3 (which are included amongst the exciters
in DigSILENT). There are two types of Power System
Stabilizer (PSS). Type 1 uses the generator speed as input and
type 2 (using the generators electric power as input). The
transmission lines can only be modelled as lumped
equivalent model. Capacitors can be modelled for reactive
power compensation and voltage boosting, but it does not
allow filters to be modelled. Loads can be modelled as static
loads (constant power, constant current, constant impedance
or a combination of the three), or as dynamic loads (induction
machines, voltage dependant loads). PST models HVDC
systems and it allows the user to modify the systems, but the
user must know the software in detail to benefit from this
option. The system converter stations are modelled using
voltage, power and inverter controls.
C. Matlab PSAT
Power System Analysis Toolbox (PSAT) is a Matlab
toolbox for static and dynamic analysis and control of electric
power systems. It was developed by Federico Milano and is
an open source software.
PSAT includes power flow, continuation power flow,
optimal power flow, small-signal stability analysis and time
domain simulation tools that can be used on AC and AC-DC
systems. It uses Newton Raphson algorithm to perform power
flow analysis. All operations can be assessed by means of
graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and a Simulink-based library
provides a user friendly tool for network design [7].
Generators of order II, III, IV, V (types I where , , eq, ed,
ed, type II where , , eq, eq, ed and type III where , ,
f, q, d are the state variables), VI (using , , ed, eq, eq,
ed as state variables for the machines) and VIII can be
modelled in PSAT. Three types of exciters are available in
PSAT, namely AVR type I, AVR type II and AVR type III
none of which is found in neither PST nor DigSILENT.
Power System Stabilizer type I, II, III, IV and V are available
from the PSS library. In the load library different types of
loads such as voltage dependant, frequency dependant,
constant current, constant power and constant impedance
loads, exponential and mixed loads can be found. The
transmission lines can only be modelled as lumped
equivalent model. Capacitors can be modelled for reactive
power compensation and voltage boosting, but it does not
allow filters to be modelled. HVDC system can be modelled
in PSAT; however no modifications can be done to the
system. Only power, voltage and current control can be
implemented in the converter stations in PSAT.
III. SYSTEM MODEL
The network shown in Fig.1 is the modified two-area,
four generator system with a parallel HVDC system, taken
from [8].

Generators have been modelled using the 6th order

machines. Each machine is rated 900 MVA set to supply 700
MW (see appendix for machine data). Two machines
connected to buses 1 and 2 are in area 1 and the other two
machines connected to buses 3 and 4 are in area 2. These two
areas are connected through a weak tie-line. For the HVAC
transmission line, Machine 3 is set to be the slack bus of this
system and all other machines are modelled as PV buses. The
machines are rated at 20 kV and transmission lines are rated
to 230 kV. There are 2 loads in the system, Load 1 = 976 +
j100 MVA in area 1 and Load 2 = 1767 + j100 MVA in area
2. To boost the voltage in the system, capacitor banks, Cap 1
= 300 Mvar and Cap 2 = 450 Mvar are connected to buses 7
and 9 receptively. Area 1 and area 2 are connected by a
double set of transmission lines that are 220 km long. The
lines are modelled as equivalent circuits.
The exciters for this paper are the IEEE AC4A type
exciter (Fig. A1 for model used in DigSILENT and PST
(shown in the Appendix) and Fig. A2 for PSAT. PSS STAB1
shown in Fig. A3 was used for DigSILENT and PST and Fig.
A4 for PSAT. The input used in all PSS is rotor speed. Fig
A2 is simplified by canceling TE, TF and KF, i.e., setting them
to zero. The difference between the models shown Fig. A3
and the model shown in Fig. A4 is that K in Fig. A3 is equal
to K*T in Fig. A4. TE is Fig 14 is not set by the user and its
value is internally calculated from the limits of the output
signal PSAT does not allow the user to do so.

Fig. 1: Two area multi machine system with a hybrid HVAC-HVDC

transmission system

The parameters of the transmission lines are given in the

Appendix. The HVDC system is a monopolar 500 kV, 230
MVA, 0.46 kA link with 12 pulse converters on both rectifier
and inverter sides. This HVDC system is modified from the
CIGRE benchmark model [9, 10]. The HVDC line is modeled
as a equivalent circuit. Each converter has its own
converting transformer. The HVDC transmission line is 220
km long and its parameters are given in the Appendix. To
control the power transmitted across the HVDC link the
rectifier is modelled using current control. The current
control on the rectifier station is set to 0.4kA. The power flow
results for this system are presented in tables I, II and III.
Approximately 400 MW is transferred from area 1 to
area 2 to supply load 2 that is bigger than the total generator
capacity of area 2.

IV. POWER FLOW ANALYSIS

The steady state study was performed by analyzing the
power flow of the HVAC-HVDC system. The voltage, active
and reactive power results of the system are shown in Tables
I, II and III, respectively.
It can be seen from table 1 that the voltage magnitudes
are 1.03 p.u. for machines 1 and 3 are 1.01 p.u. for machines
2 and 4. The lowest voltage for this system is 0.98 p.u. at bus
7. This value is the same for all the software packages. The
voltages on the DC side of the rectifier and inverter are
1.01p.u. and 1.00 p.u., respectively in DigSILENT and
Matlab PST. Matlab PSAT does not display the voltage
profile for the HVDC converter stations.
The power generated by all machines with the exception
of machine 3 in the hybrid system is 700 MW. This is
because the buses 1, 2, and 4 have been set PV buses.
Machine 3 generated roughly 703 MW because it was set as
slack bus. While the total generated real power is
approximately 2803 MW for all software packages as can be
seen in table 2, the total reactive power generated is slightly
different. For example the total reactive power generated in
DigSILENT is 585 Mvar, PST is 613 Mvar and PSAT is 592
Mvar. The HVAC lines deliver close to 197 MW and absorb
close to 18 Mvar in DigSilent, 26 Mvar on PST and 24 Mvar
in PSAT on the receiving end of the transmission lines (bus
9). Close to 2 MW is lost on each of the HVAC lines. The
HVDC line transfers from the rectifier side about 199.7 MW
and about 198.7 MW is received at the inverter side of the
system, and 1 MW (0.5 %) is lost on the HVDC line. The
reactive power consumed by the rectifier stations is around 83
Mvar for PST and 87 Mvar for DigSILENT and PSAT. The
reactive power consumed at the inverter stations is close to
Table I: Voltage Profile
Element
Rated
Voltage
(kV)
Bus 1
20
Bus 2

20

Bus 3

20

Bus 4

20

Bus 5

230

Bus 6

230

Bus 7

230

Bus 8

230

Bus 9

230

Bus 10

230

Bus 11

230

Rectifier

500

Inverter

500

Voltage (p.u.) and angle (deg)

DigSILENT
PST
PSAT
1.03
6.56
1.01
-3.14
1.03
-6.8
1.01
-16.51
1.01
0.12
0.99
-9.85
0.98
-18.05
0.99
-24.76
1
-31.24
1
-23.17
1.01
-13.24
1.01
0
1.01
0

*: No display of the results in PSAT

1.03
6.67
1.01
-3.04
1.03
-6.8
1.01
-16.51
1.01
0.21
0.99
-9.79
0.98
-18.07
0.99
-25.79
1
-31.24
1
-23.19
1.01
-13.25
1.01
0
1.01
0

1.03
6.49
1.01
-3.2
1.03
-6.8
1.01
-16.5
1.01
0.05
0.99
-9.91
0.98
-18.11
0.99
-24.76
1
-31.2
1
-23.15
1.01
-13.24
*
*

113 Mvar in DigSILENT and 99 Mvar and 97Mvar for PST

and PSAT respectively
Each of the HVAC lines transmits about 100 MW and each
has a loss of approximately 2 MW (2 %), and transfers close
to 12 Mvar. The HVDC line delivers close to 198 MW at the
inverter side of the system, and these values are similar across
all packages. The reactive power consumed by the rectifier
stations is similar across all packages, but differ at the
inverter stations with DigSILENT absorbing 113.18 Mvar
while PST absorbs 99.71 Mvar and PSAT absorbs 97.14
Mvar. The reactive power supplied by the generators in area 1
in Matlab is slightly higher in PST when compared to
DigSILENT and Matlab PSAT.
Table II: Active power profile
Element
Gen 1
Gen 2
Gen 3
Gen 4
HVAC Line 1
HVAC Line 2
HVDC Line
Rectifier
Inverter
Load 1
Load 2
Cap 1
Cap 2

DigSILENT
700
700
703.07
700
98.41
98.41
198.78
199.74
198.78
976
1767
0
0

Active Power (MW)

PST
700
700
703.36
700
98.25
98.25
198.7
199.7
198.7
976
1767
0
0

PSAT
700
700
703.09
700
98.59
98.59
198.25
199.35
198.25
976
1767
0
0

Active Power (Mvar)

PST
168.2
193.81
136.29
115.17
12.89
12.89
0
82.87
99.71
100
100
300
450

PSAT
157.39
168.08
135.29
131.11
12.08
12.08
0
86.77
97.74
100
100
300
450

Table III: Reactive power profile

Element
Gen 1
Gen 2
Gen 3
Gen 4
HVAC Line 1
HVAC Line 2
HVDC Line
Rectifier
Inverter
Load 1
Load 2
Cap 1
Cap 2

DigSILENT
158.3
170.32
137.79
119.2
9.05
9.05
0
87.3
113.18
100
100
300
450

V. TRANSIENT STABILITY
Transient stability of a power system refers to the ability of
a system to remain stable, i.e., maintain synchronism, when
subjected to severe disturbances such as faults and switching
of lines [1, 11].
The transient stability of the system is evaluated by
applying a three-phase fault at bus on 8 line 8-9 at t=1s. The
fault was cleared after 50 ms by removing the line. The
impact on all machine terminal voltages, rotor angle and
active power are analysed.
The rotor angle output in PST and PSAT are the individual
machine rotor angles, and the rotor angle differences are then
calculated using the rotor angle of machine 3 as the reference.

Generator rotor angle

Generator terminal voltage

-0.4
Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

1.1

1
2
3
4

1
2
3
4

-0.6

rotor angle [rad]

1.05

voltage [pu]

Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

-0.5

0.95

-0.7

-0.8

-0.9

0.9

-1
0.85

0.8

-1.1

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

3.5

4.5

Fig. 2: Terminal machine voltage in DigSILENT

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

3.5

4.5

Fig. 5: Machine rotor angle in DigSILENT

Generator terminal voltage

Generator rotor angle

1.15
Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

1.1

0.6

1
2
3
4

Machine 1
Machine 2
Machine 3
Machine 4

0.5
0.4
rotor angle [rad]

1.05

voltage [pu]

0.95

0.3
0.2
0.1

0.9

0
0.85

-0.1
0.8

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

3.5

4.5

-0.2

Fig. 3: Terminal machine voltage in Matlab PST

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

3.5

4.5

Fig. 6: Machine rotor angle in Matlab PST

Generator terminal voltage

Generator rotor angle

0.6
Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

1.1

1
2
3
4

1
2
3
4

0.4

rotor angle [rad]

1.05

voltage [pu]

Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

0.5

0.95

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.9

0
0.85

-0.1
0.8

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

Fig. 4: Terminal machine voltage in Matlab PSAT

3.5

4.5

-0.2

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

Fig. 7: Machine rotor angle in Matlab PSAT

3.5

4.5

Generator active power

9
Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

1
2
3
4

active power [pu]

2
0

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

3.5

4.5

Fig. 8: Machine active power in DigSILENT

Generators active power

9
Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

1
2
3
4

active power [pu]

2
0

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

3.5

4.5

Fig. 9: Machine active power in Matlab PST

DigSILENT automatically calculates the rotor angle

differences for all machines with respect to the rotor angle of
machine 3.
Figs. 2, 3 and 4 show the responses of the machine voltages
for DigSILENT, PST and PSAT, respectively. It can be seen
from Fig. 2 and Fig 3 that the system stabilizes in less than 4
seconds. During the fault, machine 4 reaches the lowest
voltage of 0.82 p.u. and machine 1 reaches the highest
voltage of 1.08p.u. The voltage curves of PSAT shown in
Fig. 4 have more oscillations and take longer to stabilize,
approximately 6 seconds. During the fault, machine 4 reaches
a minimum voltage of 0.86 p.u. and machine 1 reaches a
maximum of 1.08 when the fault is cleared.
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the results for the machine rotor
angle differences taking machine 3 as the reference rotor
angle. The rotor angles in DigSILENT settle in less than 3.5
seconds while PST (Fig. 6) and PSAT (Fig. 7) settled at
around 5 seconds. DigSILENT displays the rotor angle with
respect to machine 3 while PST and PSAT display individual
rotor angles. For this reason the rotor angle of machine 3 is at
zero in PST and PSAT. The responses of the machine electric
powers are shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. In DigSILENT, the
electric power at machine 4 reduces to 2.3 p.u. and machine 2
reduces to 2.8 p.u. during the fault and after it is cleared
machine 4 reaches a maximum of 8 p.u. before stabilizing at
3 seconds.
In PST, machine 2 shows the lowest active power at 2.3
p.u. and machine 4 is at 2.5 p.u. during the fault. When the
fault is cleared, machine 4 displays the maximum at 8.4 p.u.
and the system settles at approximately 6 seconds.
The electric power displays more oscillations in PSAT
when compared to the other packages. The active power at
machine 4 dips to 4.3 p.u. and machine 2 reduces to 4.35 p.u.
during the fault and once machine 1 reaches a maximum of
7.7 p.u. and the system settles after 5 seconds.
VI. CONCLUSIONS

Generator active power

Steady state performance and the impact of a three-phase

transient disturbance were investigated in this paper. For the
steady-state studies, across all packages the voltage and
active power profiles are similar and there are small
differences in the reactive power for the machines and
converter stations. DigSILENT and PST display similar
behaviour for the voltage and electric power for the transient
disturbance. The rotor angle is stable in all packages. PSAT
displays lower voltage and electric power outputs when
compared to the other packages. More investigations must be
performed to fully understand the softwares packages.

9
Machine
Machine
Machine
Machine

1
2
3
4

active power [pu]

2
0

0.5

1.5

2.5
time [s]

Fig. 10: Machine active power in Matlab PSAT

3.5

4.5

LIMITATIONS:
In all packages, transient stability studies can be
performed; however PSAT only allows three-phase faults to
be modelled. PST can model line to ground, line-to-line, lineto-line to ground and three-phase faults. It can also model
loss of a line with no fault and loss of load on a bus. Neither
converter faults nor DC line faults can be modelled in both

PST and PSAT. DigSILENT and PSAT do not allow the user
to model the components from basic component levels.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to express their thanks to Famutsi
Mulumba, Paul Olulope and Severus Sheetekela from the
Power group at the University of Cape Town for their help
and technical contribution to this paper.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]

[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]

[12]
[13]
[14]

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HVAC line parameters:

R = 0.0529 /km, X = 0.529 /km and B = 3.371 S/km.
Using an Sbase = 100 MVA and a Vbase = 230 kV, the
equivalent parameters in per unit values are
R = 0.0001 p.u., X = 0.001 p.u. and B = 0.00175 p.u..
HVDC line parameters:
R = 0.0281 /km, X = 0.02 /km, B = 0.44 S/km.
Using a Sbase = 230 MVA and a Vbase = 500 kV, the equivalent
parameters in per unit values are
R = 0.000025 p.u., X = 0.000022 p.u. and B = 0.000021 p.u..
Time constants TB and TC are frequently small and are
neglected.

Fig. A1: IEEE AC4A type exciter (DigSILENT and PST) [14]

The shaded block is not included in the IEEE AC4A exciter

but is given in the software packages as a component of the
exciter system.

Fig. A2: Exciter type II (PSAT)

Fig. A311: Power System Stabilizer (DigSILENT and PST)

APPENDIX
Synchronous generator data
Xd = 1.8 Xd = 0.3 Xd =0.25 Xq = 1.7 Xq = 0.55
Xq = 0.25 Xl = 0.2 Ra = 0.0025 Tdo = 8s Tdo = 0.03s
Tqo = 0.4s Tqo = 0.05s Asat = 0.015 Bsat = 9.6 TI = 0.9
S1.0 = 0.039 S1.2 = 0.223 KD = 0 H = 6.5(For machines 1
and 2) H = 6.175(for machines 3 and 4)
Exciter data
KA = 200

TA = 0.05s

TR = 0.01s

Power System Stabilizer data

K = 20
T = 10s
T1 = 0.05s
T2 = 0.02s
T3 = 3s
T4 = 5.4s
The PSS washout gain (K) in PST and DigSILENT is
multiplied by the washout time constant (T) to be the same as
in PSAT.

Fig. A4: Power System Stabilizer type II (PSAT)