How to configure device capacity

Before run simulation with STEPS, it is suggested to set up device capacity especially for studies of large-scale power systems.

Default device capacity

In STEPS, the default device capacity is listed as follows:

bus: 1000
generator: 500
wtGenerator: 500
pvUnit: 500
energyStorage: 100
load: 500
fixedShunt: 500
line: 3000
transformer: 1000
hvdc: 100
area: 100
zone: 100
owner: 100
equivalentDevice: 100

Get current device capacity configuration

You can get the current device capacity configuration with APIs like:

nbus_max = simulator.get_bus_capacity() # get capacity of BUS
ngen_max = simulator.get_generator_capacity() # get capacity of GENERATOR
nwtgen_max = simulator.get_wt_generator_capacity() # get capacity of WT_GENERATOR (wind turbine generator)
npv_max = simulator.get_pv_unit_capacity() # get capacity of PV_UNIT (photovoltaic unit)
nes_max = simulator.get_energy_storage_capacity() # get capacity of ENERGY_STORAGE
nload_max = simulator.get_load_capacity() # get capacity of LOAD
nshunt_max = simulator.get_fixed_shunt_capacity() # get capacity of FIXED_SHUNT (fixed shunt)
nline_max = simulator.get_line_capacity() # get capacity of LINE
ntrans_max = simulator.get_transformer_capacity() # get capacity of TRANSFORMER (including both 2-winding and 3-winding transformers)
nhvdc_max = simulator.get_hvdc_capacity() # get capacity of HVDC
ned_max = simulator.get_equivalent_device_capacity() # get capacity of EQUIVALENT_DEVICE
narea_max = simulator.get_area_capacity() # get capacity of AREA
nzone_max = simulator.get_zone_capacity() # get capacity of ZONE
nowner_max = simulator.get_owner_capacity() # get capacity of OWNER
print(nbus_max, ngen_max, nwtgen_max, npv_max, nes_max, nload_max, nshunt_max, nline_max, ntrans_max, nhvdc_max, ned_max, narea_max, nzone_max, nowner_max)

Change device capacity configuration

If you have a power system with number of devices greater than the curent capacity configuration, you must change the device capacity with APIs like:

simulator.set_bus_capacity(10000) # set capacity of BUS
simulator.set_generator_capacity(1000) # set capacity of GENERATOR
simulator.set_wt_generator_capacity(1000) # set capacity of WT_GENERATOR (wind turbine generator)
simulator.set_pv_unit_capacity(1000) # set capacity of PV_UNIT (photovoltaic unit)
simulator.set_load_capacity(5000) # set capacity of LOAD
simulator.set_fixed_shunt_capacity(1000) # set capacity of FIXED_SHUNT (fixed shunt)
simulator.set_line_capacity(60000) # set capacity of LINE
simulator.set_transformer_capacity(5000) # set capacity of TRANSFORMER (including both 2-winding and 3-winding transformers)
simulator.set_hvdc_capacity(100) # set capacity of HVDC
simulator.set_equivalent_device_capacity(100) # set capacity of EQUIVALENT_DEVICE
simulator.set_energy_storage_capacity(1000) # set capacity of ENERGY_STORAGE
simulator.set_area_capacity(1000) # set capacity of AREA
simulator.set_zone_capacity(1000) # set capacity of ZONE
simulator.set_owner_capacity(1000) # set capacity of OWNER

Even for power system with number of devices less than the current capacity configuration, it is SUGGESTED to reduce the capacity to the actual number of devices for saving memory and speeding up simulation.

Set up device capacity with configuration file.

Though you can set up capacity with previous APIs, it is strongly suggested to set up a configuration file for automatically setting up capacity.

The configuration file must be named EXACTLY as steps_config.json, and its contents should looks like:

{"bus":100000,
"generator": 50000,
"wtGenerator": 50000,
"pvUnit":50000,
"load":50000,
"fixedShunt": 50000,
"switchedShunt":50000,
"line":200000,
"transformer":200000,
"hvdc":10000,
"equivalentDevice":100,
"area":10000,
"zone":10000,
"owner":10000
}

Once the configuration file is set up, put the configuration file to the folder where you want to run simulation with STEPS.