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Open‑source tools, model libraries and digital twins highlighted as keys to scaling GETs
Summary
Panelists and vendors urged common model standards, shared open libraries and digital‑twin approaches so planning and operations can consistently evaluate and coordinate grid‑enhancing technologies; a French zonal automation example was cited as an operational model.
Several panelists emphasized that software — not just sensors — is the lever that will let GETs scale safely and economically. Dr. Alexander (Linux Foundation Energy) argued that open‑source collaboration and modular frameworks can reduce integration friction across vendors and operators and called for shared model libraries and standards to support consistent planning and operations.
Panelists described a working operational example used in France (described in the session as a zonal automaton) that monitors a small set of lines and runs second‑scale optimizations to choose the least‑cost remedial action — using DLRs, topology changes or other tools — to avoid curtailment of wind output. "This automaton looks at this area in real time and determine among all the different solutions...the least cost way to lift the constraints," the speaker said, noting the system has been deployed in about 20 zones.
Speakers also discussed how digital twins and real‑time analytics enable both day‑to‑day operations and longer‑term planning to be consistent: planning studies can evaluate GETs in a 20‑year horizon while operations replicate those assumptions in real time. Panelists said standard APIs, single sources of truth and shared weather and model inputs would reduce duplication and speed pilots to production. They identified AI and automation as promising assistance for operators faced with high data volumes.
While praising open architectures, speakers cautioned that standards and model availability are workstreams requiring cross‑industry cooperation; several suggested neutral convenors (including the Linux Foundation) could host common model repositories and open‑source tooling.
Panelists concluded that digital twins, shared models and open architectures would let utilities move from reactive pilots to proactive co‑optimization of GETs and conventional upgrades, but they reiterated that local use cases and cost‑benefit analyses will still determine where deployments make sense.
