1

Electromagnetic Transient Simulation Algorithms

for Evaluation of Large-Scale Extreme Fast
Charging Systems (Distribution Grid Models)
Suman Debnath, Senior Member, IEEE, Jongchan Choi, Member, IEEE,

Abstract—The distribution and transmission grids are ob- of transportation is associated with range anxiety of users.
serving an increased penetration of power electronics in loads
and generations. For example, there is increasing interest in To reduce the range anxiety of users, extreme fast charging
integrating in extreme fast charging (XFC) systems for fast (XFC) systems that can charge EVs in less than 10 minutes
charging of electrical vehicles. As these systems are integrated, are required. For a 100 kWh battery pack in a light-duty EV
developing high-fidelity electromagnetic transient model of XFC that is capable of providing 200+ miles of driving range, the
systems in distribution grids and evaluating their interactions charger will have to deliver at least 400 kW power to charge
with the power grid would be of significant interest. This model
will be utilized for design of XFC systems, to identify upgrades in the battery from 15% to 80% state-of-charge (SOC) in less
distribution and/or transmission grids, for planning purposes by than 10 minutes [1]. For medium and heavy duty EVs, the
transmission planners or operators or owners, among others. power that needs to be delivered by the charger will be in the
It can also be utilized in operations for improved reliable megawatt range to charge in less than 30 minutes [2].
performance of the grid and/or XFC station. The challenge with As more XFC systems are integrated in to the grid, high-
simulating these models is the high computational complexity
introduced by the large number of states present in the system fidelity electromagnetic transient (EMT) dynamic models of
and the time-step needed to simulate the system. In this paper, XFC systems will be needed for design of XFC stations (that
advanced simulations algorithms are applied to reduce the consist of multiple XFC systems), to identify upgrades in
computational complexity of simulating large-scale XFC systems. distribution and/or transmission grids, for planning purposes
The algorithms include numerical stiffness-based segregation, by transmission planners or operators or owners, among others.
time constant-based segregation, clustering and aggregation on
differential algebraic equations (DAEs), and multi-order inte- The need for high-fidelity EMT dynamic models for power
gration approaches. While the first three algorithms split the electronics-based resources have been highlighted by the anal-
matrix that needs to be inverted from a large matrix to much yses of recent events in California that led to several power
smaller matrices, the final algorithm reduces the computational electronics based resources (utility-scale photovoltaic [PV]
burden of applying higher-order integration approaches in the plants) disconnecting from the grid during the disturbances
complete system. The comparison made in the previous sentence
is with respect to use of homogeneous integration approaches [3]–[5]. The event reported in [5] also resulted in distributed
used in conventional electromagnetic transient simulators like energy resources (DERs) disconnecting from the distribution
power systems computer aided design (PSCAD). The approaches grid during the event observed in the transmission grid. The
mentioned here have resulted in speed-up of 18x in the simulation events analyzed in these reports were unbalanced faults in the
of a single distribution system with 15 XFCs and 480x in the transmission grid. These events also highlight the need for
simulation of a transmission-distribution system with 315 XFCs
in multiple distribution feeders. developing EMT dynamic models of transmission-distribution
grids. Similar challenges in operation may also be observed
I. I NTRODUCTION with increased integration of XFC stations and/or systems
in distribution grid as the XFC stations/systems are power
There is a trend towards increased electrification of trans-
electronics-based resources.
portation [1]. The desirable features of electrified transporta-
While there is a need for high-fidelity EMT dynamic models
tion include reduced emissions, faster acceleration capability,
of transmission-distribution grids with a large number of
among others, that have led to increased acceptance of electric
XFC systems, there are challenges that exist to perform such
vehicles (EVs). One of the challenges in the electrification
simulations. The challenges in performing simulation of high-
Research sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development fidelity EMT dynamic models using conventional simulators
Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, (like power system computer aided design [PSCAD]) arise
for the U. S. Department of Energy. from the increased computational burden imposed and the
Suman Debnath and Jongchan Choi are with Oak Ridge National Labora-
tory, Knoxville, TN 37932, USA (email: debnaths@ornl.gov). corresponding long time duration taken to simulate the models.
This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. The computational burden imposed may also lead to crashes
DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States in simulation. To overcome these challenges, advanced sim-
Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication,
acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid- ulation algorithms are applied in this paper to the dynamic
up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form models of individual XFC system and multiple XFC systems
of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government in distribution grid.
purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results
of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access In this paper, the detailed high-fidelity EMT dynamic mod-
Plan(http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). els of individual XFC system and multiple XFC stations in dis-
 2

tribution grid are developed. Advanced simulation algorithms To

transmission system
like numerical stiffness-based segregation [6], time constant-
based segregation, clustering and aggregation on differential
algebraic equations (DAEs) that uses a method similar to
230kV
Kron’s reduction for linear equations [7] or nested fast and to
34.5kV
simultaneous simulation [8], and multi-order integration ap-
proaches are applied to these models. These algorithms and
the locations of their application are explained in this paper.
II. XFC S CENARIO D ESCRIPTION
The circuit architectures of XFC systems and multiple XFC Distribution System with 15 XFC
stations in distribution grid are explained in this section. Systems

A. XFC System Description

The XFC system considered in this paper consists of a direct
current (dc)-dc boost converter that connects to the alternating
current (ac) grid through a two-level three-phase inverter, and
a filter. The XFC system is shown in Fig. 1.
XFC XFC XFC XFC XFC
station station station station station

Fig. 3: XFC stations connected to a distribution grid.

TABLE I: Distribution line information
From To Length (m)
Central grid XFC-1 60
Central grid XFC-2 30
Central grid XFC-3 60
Central grid XFC-4 60
Central grid XFC-5 60

Fig. 1: XFC system. III. EMT M ODELS

The EMT dynamic models of individual components and
B. Multiple XFC Systems in an XFC Station systems are briefly described in this section. The models are
Each individual XFC station may comprise of multiple XFC represented by DAEs.
systems. The number of XFC systems connected through a
single transformer can be considered as ’N’. The XFC station’s A. Model: XFC System
configuration is shown in Fig. 2.
The dynamics of the k th XFC system shown in Fig. 1 can
be modeled using DAEs as provided below.
k  
34.5kV dvc,ess 1 1 k Vk
/480V Cess =− + vc,ess − ikL,ess + ess ,
dt Ress Ress,dc Ress
k  k  
diL,ess
Ldc = −RL,dc ikL,ess + vc,ess
k
− vdck
S2,dc 1 − S1,dck
dt    
k k
XFC XFC XFC + 1 − S2,dc 1 − S1,dc sgn(ikL,ess ) ,
system system system dv k vk  k  
Cdc dc = − dc + ikL,ess S2,dc k
1 − S1,dc
dt Rdc
 k
 k
 
Fig. 2: XFC station. + 1 − S2,dc 1 − S1,dc sgn(ikL,ess )
 k    
− ikj,ac S1,j,ac k
1 − S2,j,ac k
+ 1 − S2,j,ac
 k
 
C. Distribution Grid with Multiple XFC Stations × 1 − S1,j,ac sgn(−ikj,ac ) ,
An example case-study with 5 XFC stations is considered dikj,ac vk  k  
L1,ac = −R1,ac ikj,ac + dc S1,j,ac k
1 − S2,j,ac
in this paper. Each XFC station consists of 3 XFC systems. dt  2 
k k
The XFC stations are connected through 5 different distri- − S2,j,ac 1 − S1,j,ac
bution feeders to the transmission grid. The overview of the  k
 k

− 1 − S2,j,ac 1 − S1,j,ac
distribution grid with the XFC stations is shown in Fig. 3. In  
this case-study, there is a total of 15 XFC systems. The line 2sgn(ikj,ac ) − 1 − vj,ac,fil
k
,
parameters of the feeder are shown in Table I.
 3

Rlps Llps Lls Rls

ij,gridp(s) ™k ikj,ac,fil
vj,gridp ns:np vj,gridp(s) Lm vj,grid(s)

Fig. 4: Transformer model using classical approach.

k k
dvj,ac,fil vj,ac,fil A. Numerical Stiffness & Time-Constant: XFC System
Cac =− + ikj,ac − ikj,ac,fil,
dt Rc,ac
The DAEs representing the dynamics of a single XFC
dikj,ac,fil
L2,ac = −R2,ac ikj,ac,fil + vj,ac,fil
k s
− vj,grid . (1) system, as described by (1) can be segregated based on
dt numerical stiffness to stiff DAEs and non-stiff DAEs. This
process is similar to the one applied in [6]. Numerical stiffness
B. Model: Multiple XFC Systems in an XFC Station is observed in the DAEs representing the dynamics of the
inductor currents of the dc-dc boost converter (i L,ess ), the ac-
The dynamics of the transformer connecting to multiple
side inverter currents (i j,ac ), and filter voltages and currents
XFC systems shown in Fig. 2 can be modeled using DAEs
(vj,ac,fil and ij,ac,fil , respectively). The DAEs representing the
as provided below. The transformer is modeled using the pi-
dynamics of the other states in the XFC system like the
section classical approach as shown in Fig. 4.
dc-dc converter capacitor voltages (v c,ess and vdc ) are non-
p(s) ns p stiff. The DAEs with stiff property are discretized using stiff-
vj,grid = v ,
np j,grid decay discretization algorithms like backward Euler and the
 k p(s) DAEs with non-stiff property are discretized using non-stiff
d k ij,ac,fil (s) dij,grid
Lls + Llp
= −Rls ikj,ac,fil discretization algorithms like forward Euler. The first-order
dt dt
k discretization algorithms are used here as a small time-step
(s) p(s) (s) ns p is needed to represent the switching behavior of the XFC
− Rlp ij,grid + vj,grid − v ,
np j,grid system. The segregation applied here is stable based on the
 p(s)
d k ikj,ac,fil  s  dij,grid ns p time constant separating the non-stiff DAEs from stiff DAEs,
Lm
s
− Llp + Lsm = v as has been shown as a sufficient criteria for stability of the
dt dt np j,grid
p(s)
segregation in [6].
+ Rlp
s
ij,grid . (2)

B. DAEs Clustering, Aggregation, & Reduction Algorithm:

C. Model: Distribution Grid with Multiple XFC Stations
Fig. 5: Distribution line pi-section model.
Each 3-phase line in the distribution grid shown in Fig. 3
is modeled using pi-section model shown in Fig. 5. The
dynamics of the distribution line are represented by DAEs.
IV. S IMULATION A LGORITHMS FOR S PEED -U P
The simulation algorithms applied to the models of XFC
systems, XFC stations, and distribution grids with XFC sta-
tions developed in Section III are explained in this section.
Multiple XFC Systems in a XFC Station
Grouping similar dynamics together, the DAEs representing
the dynamics can be aggregated and reduced in size. The
grouping of the similar dynamics can be achieved through
cluster analysis, which is not the focus of this work and will be
considered in future. The aggregated DAEs will be computed
to provide inputs to the individual DAEs representing the
dynamics of each group. Thereafter, the individual DAEs
will be computed. In this process, a large matrix that is
obtained from the discretization of the complete DAE is not
required to be inverted. Only smaller matrices obtained from
the discretization of individual DAEs representing the group’s
dynamics is needed. This approach reduces the computational
burden of large matrix inversion upon discretization of the
DAEs. This process proposed here is similar to the application
of Kron’s reduction on linear equations.
This approach is applied to the DAEs representing the
dynamics of multiple XFC systems in a XFC station. The
DAEs representing the dynamics of XFC systems are similar
and can be aggregated. The dynamics of states in the filter
of the XFC system described in (1) are aggregated across
 4

different XFC systems in a XFC station, resulting in the XFC station requires currents at k th and (k − 1)th instants,
following DAEs: there is an approximation made here. The approximation is
 k p(s) p(s)
ij,grid [k] ≈ ij,grid [k − 1] in the discretized DAEs representing
d k ij,ac v k
L1,ac = −R1,ac ikj,ac + dc the dynamics of multiple distribution lines. This approximation
dt 2 holds good if the inductance of the transformer produces a
k k
 k  k
 k
 k

× S1,j,ac 1 − S2,j,ac − S2,j,ac 1 − S1,j,ac higher time constant as compared to the capacitance of the
 k
  k
   connected distribution line, which holds true in general.
− 1 − S2,j,ac 1 − S1,j,ac 2sgn(ikj,ac ) − 1 − k
vj,ac,fil ,
k
D. Overview of Simulation Algorithm
 k
 k
d kvj,ac,fil k vj,ac,fil The simulation algorithm to simulate distribution grids with
Cac =− + ikj,ac − ikj,ac,fil, multiple XFC stations is summarized in Fig. 6. The modular
dt Rc,ac
k k approach presented here enables scalability of the number
 k
d k ij,ac,fil XFC models considered.
L2,ac = −R2,ac ikj,ac,fil + k
vj,ac,fil
dt
k k
s
− N.vj,grid . (3) XFCSystem

s
Solving the DAEs in (2) and (3), v j,grid [k] is determined and vj,grids[k]
sent as an input to individual DAEs representing the dynamics MultipleXFC
Systemsinan
of each XFC system described in (1). The DAEs in (3) are XFCStation vj,ac[k-1]
discretized using algorithms with stiff-decay property as the
states in (3) can not be adequately separated from the states XFCSystem

in (1) that showed stiffness in the DAEs representing their dy-

namics. They are discretized using a first-order discretization vj,gridp[k]
Distribution
(backward Euler) as a small time-step is used to represent the Gridwith
switching behavior. The inputs to the discretized DAEs in (3) MultipleXFC
Stations
are the voltages generated at the terminals of individual XFC
system’s inverter given by, ij,gridp(s)[k-1]

k
k
vdc [k − 1]  k  k
 XFCSystem
vj,ac [k − 1] = S1,j,ac [k − 2] 1 − S2,j,ac [k − 2]
2
  vj,grids[k]
k k
− S2,j,ac [k − 2] 1 − S1,j,ac [k − 2]
 k
 k
 MultipleXFC
− 1 − S2,j,ac [k − 2] 1 − S1,j,ac [k − 2] Systemsinan
vj,ac[k-1]
  XFCStation
× 2sgn(ikj,ac [k − 1]) − 1 . (4)
XFCSystem

C. Distribution Grid with Multiple XFC Stations

The DAEs representing the dynamics of multiple distribu-
tion lines connected to the XFC stations are formed. A second-
order discretization is applied to these DAEs. A symmetrical
discretization and higher order discretization algorithm (like
the trapezoidal integration method) is applied here to enable
use of higher time-steps as compared to the smaller time-
steps needed to represent switching behavior in XFC stations.
As the size of the DAEs increase with a larger number of
distribution lines, Kron’s reduction may be applied. Kron’s
reduction is applied to solving linear system of equations of
the form Ax = b, where A is an N xN matrix, x is a N x1
vector, and b is a N x1 vector. The application of this reduction
technique results in reduced matrix inversion requirements by
splitting the matrix A as described in detail in [7].
The solution of the discretized DAEs representing the
dynamics of multiple distribution lines connected to the XFC
stations generates the voltage at the primary-side of the
p
transformer, v j,grid [k]. This voltage is fed to the XFC station
p(s)
model. From the XFC station model, the currents i j,grid [k − 1]
are fed from the previous time-step. Although the trapezoidal
discretization of the multiple distribution lines connected to the
Fig. 6: Overview of simulation algorithm to simulate large-scale
XFCs in grids.
V. S IMULATION R ESULTS
The algorithms developed in Section IV are applied to
distribution grid with multiple XFC stations. The scenario is
described in Sections II-C. The time-step of simulation in this
scenario is 1 µs.
A. Distribution Grid with Multiple XFC Stations
Three different use cases are considered in this scenario to
evaluate the accuracy of the proposed simulation algorithms.
They include: (i) steady-state operation of XFCs, (ii) dynamic
operation of XFCs through a step-change, and (iii) change in
distribution grid voltage. The latter use case mimics faults in
distribution grids and/or transmission grids.
Some of the states in the model from the simulation of
use case-(i) are provided in Fig. 7. The figures compare
the states obtained from baseline simulation model to the
advanced simulation model. While the baseline simulation
 5

TABLE II: Comparison of Proposed Algorithm with Existing Algorithms

Quantity ikL,ess k
vdc ika,ac ikb,ac ikc,ac k
va,ac,fil k
vb,ac,fil k
vc,ac,fil ika,ac,fil ikb,ac,fil ikc,ac,fil
Case 1 0.5481 1.4728 2.2839 2.2268 2.2967 2.7388 2.6667 2.7731 1.9710 1.8779 1.9828
XFC1 Case 2 1.1608 2.2813 2.9844 2.9333 2.9888 2.5569 2.4590 2.4803 1.8476 1.7976 1.8485
Case 3 0.5560 1.6419 2.6328 2.6489 2.5511 3.0379 2.9887 3.0201 2.5524 2.5503 2.4915
Case 1 0.3248 0.6942 2.2339 2.1886 2.2567 13.9371 14.0608 13.7677 1.4423 1.6272 1.6855
XFC2 Case 2 1.1986 2.3629 3.1289 3.0303 3.1295 11.4885 10.4657 11.3394 2.0648 1.9739 2.0796
Case 3 0.4212 0.8230 2.6543 2.6459 2.5889 15.0163 15.1648 14.8184 2.3727 2.3759 2.3344
Case 1 1.1515 2.9663 2.8671 2.7341 2.8500 13.6302 13.7721 13.5077 2.2306 2.0982 2.2136
XFC3 Case 2 1.3940 2.9465 3.3951 3.3384 3.3903 10.9762 10.0149 10.8675 2.2517 2.2004 2.2337
Case 3 1.5512 3.6017 3.1035 3.0714 3.0293 14.7594 14.9187 14.5983 2.7365 2.7185 2.6926

Baseline Model - v dc (top) Baseline Model - iL,ess (bottom)

VI. C ONCLUSIONS
Advanced Model - vdc (top) Advanced Model - i L,ess (bottom)

Case 1: Steady-state - vdc and iL,ess Comparison (single XFC system)

Advanced simulations algorithms that include numerical
1.5 stiffness-based hybrid discretization, time constant based seg-
1.5
DC link Voltage [kV]

1
regation, DAEs clustering and aggregation, and multi-order
1 discretization methods have been applied to reduce the com-

i L,ess [kA]
0.5
0 putational complexity of simulating large-scale XFC systems.
-0.5
0.5
-1
These algorithms have been applied to a distribution grid with
-1.5 15 XFCs that have shown up to 18x improvement in simu-
0 -2
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 lation. The accuracy of the proposed algorithm is compared
sec with a baseline model of the XFC systems in PSCAD that
(a) have shown less than 5% errors in most states, except for filter
capacitor voltages that have shown variations of up to 15.5%
Baseline Model - ij,ac L1 Ph.A Advanced Model - i j,ac L1 Ph.A
Baseline Model - ij,ac L1 Ph.B Advanced Model - i j,ac L1 Ph.B
errors. The higher errors in the capacitor voltages have been
Baseline Model - ij,ac L1 Ph.C Advanced Model - i j,ac L1 Ph.C identified related to ripple in the capacitor voltages that are
Case 1: Steady-state - i j,ac L1 Comparison (single XFC system) not expected in the PSCAD simulation results. These errors
3 may be based on additional processing that is performed in
2
PSCAD. This will be analyzed in detail in future.
Current [kA]

1
0
-1
-2
-3
0 0.05
Fig. 7: Comparison of the simulations of distribution grid with
multiple XFC stations based on proposed simulation algorithm and
on PSCAD in steady-state: (a) dc-dc converter inductor current and
dc-link voltage in inverter in one XFC, and (b) filter inductor currents
connected to inverter inductor in one XFC.
model is developed based on the semiconductor switching
devices and passive elements present in the PSCAD library,
the advanced simulation model is based on application of the
proposed simulation algorithm. The comparison of the states in
Fig. 7 shows similarity between the results generated from the
advanced simulation model to the baseline simulation model,
which highlights the accuracy of the proposed simulation
algorithm to simulate distribution grid with multiple XFC
stations. The errors in different states in the simulation model
under different use cases are provided in Table II. The errors
measured in the different states in the simulation model
indicate less than 5% in all states. The speed-up observed is
up to 18x when comparing the developed simulation algorithm
to the baseline model.
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