See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/336389922

Bus Depot Simulator: Steady-State Python and DigSilent Co-simulation for

Large-Scale Electric Bus Depots

Preprint · October 2019

CITATIONS READS

0 103

3 authors:

Amra Jahic Mina Eskander

Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
5 PUBLICATIONS   6 CITATIONS    3 PUBLICATIONS   4 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Detlef Schulz
Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
353 PUBLICATIONS   855 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Concepts for Architectures of Power-Supplies in Aircraft Cabins View project

Autonomous Emergency Power Supply for the Population below the Threshold of Critical Infrastructures View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Amra Jahic on 10 October 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 This is a preprint of a paper submitted to the:
NEIS 2019 Conference on Sustainable Energy Supply and Energy Storage Systems, Hamburg, Germany, 2019
Bus Depot Simulator: Steady-State Python and DigSilent Co-
simulation for Large-Scale Electric Bus Depots
A. Jahic*, M. Eskander, D. Schulz
Helmut Schmidt University, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, Germany
*E-Mail: amra.jahic@hsu-hh.de

Abstract
Increasing number of electric vehicles, including electric buses, requires installation of an appropriate charging
infrastructure. In order to analyze the depot operation, as well as the eventual grid impact of this infrastructure, it is
necessary to develop electrical models for steady-state and dynamic simulations. This paper presents the Bus Depot
Simulator, a new approach for steady state simulation of large-scale electric bus depots. Bus Depot Simulator is a co-
simulation platform based on Python and DigSilent. By the maximum utilization of both software packages, it allows fast
and automatic simulation of different user defined scenarios. This paper describes the main principles and functionalities
of the co-simulation platform. An example of a typical co-simulation output is demonstrated with a load profile analysis
for two different scenarios, based on the data from bus depot Alsterdorf in the city of Hamburg. Scenarios include average
delays of bus arrival to the depot of 3 and 6 min.

Keywords - Electric bus depot, co-simulation, DigSilent, Python, centralized charging, steady state

provide load profile of active power but do not provide

1 Introduction
In order to reduce the CO2 emission, cities worldwide
are considering replacing their diesel bus fleets with
emission free buses. The senate of the city of Hamburg has
gone even further and allowed purchases of only emission
free buses from the year 2020. In the wake of this decision,
the public transportation companies in this city have
decided to electrify their bus fleets completely in the
coming years. One of the biggest challenges along that way
is the corresponding charging infrastructure. Depending on
the characteristics of the bus routes, several charging
concepts may be appropriate: battery swapping,
opportunity charging or regular charging on centralized
depots. The public transportation companies in Hamburg
have decided to use the centralized charging concept and
plan to build eight large-scale bus depots in the city.
Such electric bus depots can have a significant impact
on the local grid. Depending on the size of the bus depot,
the local substation may reach its capacity limits [1]. The
load profile of electric bus depot is dependent on the
charging process and often unevenly distributed with high
load peaks. This can affect the voltage profile at the grid
connection point and have a negative impact on the
electrical equipment at the local substation [2]. The
dimensioning of the equipment within the depot itself also
depends on the load profile [3]. Additionally, the charging
stations may lead to power quality distortion [4].
An extensive analysis of these effects requires detailed
electrical models. First step is load profile calculation.
Studies [5-8] provide load profile calculations with
simplified models, not including detailed models of
electrical components. Another approach is load profile
forecasting based on historical data [9]. These studies
insight into other parameters such as reactive power, losses
or the equipment loading. Additionally, depending on the
analysis scenario, it is sometimes necessary to model
further elements such as management system, charging
schedule, electricity prices and environmental factors such
as traffic delays and ambient temperature. Modelling all of
these components in one software may pose a challenge,
which can be solved with a co-simulation. Co-simulation
is a wide spread principle of coupling models from
multiple subsystems into one common simulation platform
[10]. DigSilent PowerFactory offers several coupling
options, via Matlab/Simulink, external dynamic link
libraries (DLL), Application Programming Interfaces
(API) and Open Platform Communication (OPC) [11].
Several researchers used these coupling possibilities for a
variety of different co-simulation platforms, such as co-
simulation with Matlab [12,13], GridLAB and
OpenModelica [14] or multiple PowerFactory instances
[15].
This paper introduces a co-simulation platform for a
discrete steady-state analysis of electric bus depots based
on DigSilent and Python, using the Python API. Data from
a real bus depot Alsterdorf in the city of Hamburg was used
as an example, as described in Section 2. The coupling,
structure, user-interface and main functionalities of the Bus
Depot Simulator (BDS) are presented in Section 3. As a
demonstration of typical analysis outputs, for the purposes
of this paper two scenarios with traffic delays were
analyzed and compared to a no delay scenario, as provided
in Section 4. The presented results, as well as future
development steps, are summarized in Section 5.
2 Bus depot Alsterdorf
Bus depot Alsterdorf is the biggest bus depot from the
company HOCHBAHN with the planned capacity of 236
electric buses. Previous studies estimated the power
demand of this depot to 16.56 MW [6]. Due to its high
power demand, the depot is connected to the 110 kV grid.
The 20 kV medium voltage rings are supplying six carports
with the charging infrastructure for the buses. Figure 1
shows a part of the model of this depot developed in
PowerFactory.
user defined scenarios for different kinds of steady state
analysis. The input variables that the user can change for
the analysis purposes are:
• Traffic delays or detours
• Charging scheduling algorithms
• Route scheduling algorithms
• Battery capacity
• Power of the charging station
• Failure or unavailability of certain components
By changing any of the mentioned input variables the
user can analyze their effect on the active and reactive
power or the losses profile at any chosen terminal within
the depot. Additionally, the user can analyze the effect on
the loading of chosen equipment, such as any of the
installed transformers at the depot.
During the initialization, the BDS loads a database
with the relevant information about the buses and routes.
An example of the data necessary for the initialization is
given in Table 2. Each route has an ID number, departure
and arrival time, kilometers and a necessary bus type.

Table 2 Input data necessary for the initialization

C1 C2 C3 C6

Kilometers
C4 C5
Departure

Bus Type
Route ID

Arrival
Time

Time
Figure 1 PowerFactory model of the electric bus depot 66001 05:43 09:51 Rigid 50.56
Alsterdorf 66002 06:04 14:50 Rigid 106.89
The expected energy consumption for different types 66003 06:07 13:15 Articulated 87.34
of buses and ambient temperatures is shown in Table 1.
Other parameters influencing the energy consumption such Based on the chosen algorithm for route and charging
as the number of passengers and the road characteristics are scheduling, the BDS creates a driving and charging
currently not considered in BDS. schedule for all buses for the chosen time period. By
default, the schedules are calculated for the time period of
Table 1 Specific energy consumptions for different bus 24 hours. The driving schedule defines which bus serves
types and ambient temperatures which route. Unless specified otherwise, the FIFO (First-
Specific Energy Ambient Temperature In-First-Out) route scheduling algorithm is used to create
in kWh/km -15 °C 20 °C 28 °C the driving schedule. The charging schedule defines the
Rigid bus 2.11 1.42 1.60 charging start and end for all buses. The user can choose
one of the charging optimization algorithms proposed in
Articulated bus 3.25 2.05 2.40
[16]. In that case, there is an optimized charging schedule
Double-articulated 4.50 2.68 3.17
for the buses with the goal to minimize the load peak at the
bus
grid connection point. The buses charge only in the time
slots planned in the charging schedule. Additionally, the
Further details on the charging infrastructures, buses and
user can choose to charge the buses without any charging
routes at the bus depot Alsterdorf are given in [16].
schedule. In this case, the buses will charge immediately
upon their arrival to the depot.
3 Bus Depot Simulator (BDS) For the driving and charging schedule, it is necessary
to calculate the expected state of charge (SoC) of buses at
BDS is based on two software packages. The electrical all time points. The specific energy consumption from
infrastructure is modelled in DigSilent. The user interface Table 1 is used for the SoC calculations. An example of
as well as other components such as environment and one driving and charging schedule for a specific bus is
management system are modelled in Python. The given in Table 3.
connection between the programs is implemented through
a Python API available in DigSilent. By using the both
software packages, the BDS offers a variety of automatized
Table 3 Example of a driving and charging schedule for buses are charging at which stations and with what power.
one specific bus PowerFactory executes a steady-state load flow analysis
and sends the results back. The Controller can then update

Charging in %

Charging End
the user interface and show the chosen variables for each

SoC Before

SoC After

SoC After
Trip in %

Trip in %

Charging
Route ID
Bus ID

simulated minute.

Start
3.2 User Interface
The user interface is shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.
1 66007 100.0 77.4 92.9 09:02 10:12 BDS offers four tabs with relevant information for the user:
1 66018 92.9 64.6 76.5 15:06 16:00 ‘PowerFactory’, ‘Load flow results’, ‘Buses outside depot’
1 66041 76.5 41.3 100.0 23:15 03:41 and ‘Inside depot’ tab. These tabs allow monitoring of
desired processes and variables during the simulation and
After the initialization phase, the BDS uses the created a better understanding of the analyzed scenarios.
schedules for a steady-state simulation. During the ‘PowerFactory’ tab shows the model developed in this
simulation, in case of traffic delays or detours, the SoC or software. The user can observe active and reactive power
the bus arrival time may differ from the ones calculated in at the point of connection to the grid and at any of the six
the schedule. As a response to this situation, the Simulator carport terminals. The values are updated for each
first checks if the change has any negative effect on the simulated minute. ‘Load flow results’ tab displays profiles
future scheduled routes of that particular bus. If the bus of active and reactive power from the beginning of
cannot fulfill its scheduled tasks, a rescheduling process simulation up to the currently simulated minute. The user
will be triggered and a new driving and charging schedule can choose the desired terminal, point of connection or one
will be calculated. of the six carports. Additionally, this tab shows equipment
loading profile for any of the chosen transformers at the
3.1 Structure depot. ‘Buses outside depot’ tab provides an overview of
Figure 2 shows the object oriented structure of BDS. buses currently driving. For each bus outside the depot, the
user can see its departure time, the exact route and the
expected arrival time at the depot. ‘Inside depot’ tab gives
Controller
an overview of the buses currently at the depot, together
Depot with their SoC. For each simulated minute, the user can see
Environment the change in the SoC, in case the bus is charging.
Schedule The simulation can run in quasi-real time, where one
DigSilent
simulated minute represents one elapsed minute in real
time. This is mostly not necessary in praxis. By default, one
simulated minute in BDS lasts 0.5 seconds in real time.
Schedule Depot Environment This has shown to be enough to observe the simulation
process in the user-interface. For detailed monitoring of the
Charging Schedule Buses Ambient
temperature
simulation and the changes in the user interface, it is
Route Schedule Routes
Chargers Delays recommended to increase the duration of one simulated
Detours minute.
The user interface of the BDS shown in Figure 3 and
Figure 4 is based on the bus depot Alsterdorf presented in
Section 2. For the analysis of further bus depots, it is
Charger Bus Route
necessary to develop their PowerFactory models and adjust
ID ID ID the tab “Inside depot” to the carport arrangement at a new
Charging Power Battery capacity Start
depot.
Type End
Energy Kilometers
Consumption Bus Type
4 Analysis demonstration
Figure 2 UML (Unified Modeling Language) diagram BDS was already used for different types of analysis,
showing the structure of BDS
such as charging scheduling with the goal of load peak
minimization [16] and route scheduling with the goal of
The Controller manages the simulation by
load shifting [17]. For the purposes of this paper, as a
communicating with other classes such as Schedule, Depot
demonstration of possible analysis, two scenarios with
and Environment. The class Depot consists of multiple
traffic delays of 3 and 6 min for each bus were chosen. A
objects of classes Charger, Bus and Route. The simulation
scenario of 127 buses and 256 daily routes, for one working
runs with a one-minute time step. For each simulated
day in the month of January is considered for the analysis.
minute, the Controller updates all objects and sends
The outside temperature is set to -15 °C. Routes were
setpoints to PowerFactory, providing inputs as to which
scheduled according to the FIFO principle.
 a)

b)
Figure 3 BDS user interface with tabs ‘Power Factory’ (a) and ‘Load flow results’ (b)
 a)

b)
Figure 4 BDS user interface with tabs ‘Buses outside depot’ (a) and ‘Inside depot’ (b)
 Figure 5 shows the load profiles during night (from
20:00 to 06:00) resulting from the two delay scenarios
compared to the no delay scenario. There was no charging
schedule in this case which means that the buses charged
immediately upon their arrival to the depot. As it can be
seen, all load profiles show the same load peak of 7.49 MW
at 21:45.
Figure 5 Load profile at the grid connection point resulting
from the two delay scenarios compared to the no delay
scenario
After applying a greedy charging scheduling optimization
method for the load peak minimization proposed in [16],
the load profiles show distinct differences, as demonstrated
in Figure 6.
Figure 6 Load profile at the grid connection point resulting
from the two delay scenarios compared to the no delay
scenarios, after applying a load peak minimization method
The load profiles with arrival delays show higher load
peaks in this case. This is because there is less time
available for the load shifting. The load profile with no
delay shows a load peak of 5.67 MW. On the other hand,
the load profile with a 3 min delay has a load peak of
5.81 MW and the 6 min delay resulted in a 5.96 MW load
peak.
5 Conclusion
This paper introduces BDS, a co-simulation platform
used for steady state analysis of large- scale electric bus
depots. The co-simulation using Python and PowerFactory
provides a variety of fully automatized analysis scenarios.
The user can adjust input variables such as different routes
or charging scheduling algorithms, different battery
capacities or charging power, traffic delays, detours or
failures of specific installed components. In one-minute
discrete step simulation, the user can observe the output
variables such as active and reactive power, losses and
equipment loading at any desired terminal within the depot.
In this way, it is possible to analyze different management
algorithms and their effects on the load profile or the
installed electrical components. Additionally, it is possible
to investigate the effects of environmental variables such
as temperature, traffic delays or detours on the load profile
and the depot operation.
For demonstration purposes, this paper also presents
an example of a load profile analysis with BDS. Two
scenarios with delayed arrivals to the depot of 3 and 6 min
were analyzed and a difference in the resulting load peaks
was shown. This kind of analysis with the BDS can show
the effect of bus delays on the load profile and give
valuable inputs for the equipment dimensioning as well as
for the future operation of the depot.
The co-simulation platform will be further developed
to allow additional analysis scenarios. For this purpose, the
authors plan integration of a detailed battery model, as well
as a detailed grid model.
6 Acknowledgment
This work is a part of the project Accompanying
Research for Charging Infrastructure on Bus Depots. It is
supported by the German Federal Ministry of Transport
and Digital Infrastructure (AKZ G20/3552.1/3).
7 References
[1] M. Schumann, M. Meyer, M. Dietmannsberger and
D. Schulz, "Demands on the Electrical Grid due to
Electromobility in Hamburg," in 1st E-Mobility
Power System Integration Symposium, Berlin,
Germany, 2017.
[2] M. Mohamed, H. Farag, N. El-Taweel and M.
Ferguson, "Simulation of Electric Buses on a Full
Transit Network: Operational Feasibility and Grid
Impact Analysis," Electric Power System Research,
vol. 142, pp. 163-175, 2017.
[3] L. Haffner, M. Schumman, D. Schulz and M.
Dietmannsberger, "Evaluation of Modular
Infrastructure Concepts for Large-Scaled Electric
Bus Depots," in 2nd E-Mobility Power System
Integration Symposium, Stockholm, Sweden, 2018.
[4] T. Thiringer and S. Haghbin, "Power Quality Issues
of a Battery Fast Charging Station for a Fully-
Electric Public Transportation System in
Gothenburg City," Batteries, vol. 1, pp. 22-33, 2015.
[5] M. Rogge, S. Wollny and D. U. Sauer, "Fast
Charging Battery Buses for the Electrification of
Urban Public Transport - A Feasibility Study
Focusing on Charging Infrastructure and Energy
 Storage Requirements," Energies, vol. 8, pp. 4587- [17] A. Jahic, M. Eskander, D. Schulz, J. Burkhardt and
4606, 2015. H. Klingenberg, "Concepts for load management on
[6] M. Dietmannsberger, M. Schumann, M. Meyer and large-scale bus depots (in German: Konzepte für das
D. Schulz, "Modelling the Electrification of Bus Lastmanagement auf großen Busbetriebshöfen)," in
Depots using Real Data: Consequences for the Hamburger Beiträge zum technischen Klimaschutz,
Distribution Grid and Operational Requirements," in D. Schulz, Ed., 1st ed. Hamburg, Germany: Helmut-
1st E-Mobility Power System Integration Schmidt University, University of Federal Armed
Symposium, Berlin, Germany, 2017. Forces, 2019. In Press
[7] Y. Yan, J. Jiang, W. Zhang, M. Huang, Q. Chen and
H. Wang, "Research on Power Demand Suppression
Based on Charging Optimization and BESS
Configuration for Fast-Charging Stations in
Beijing," Applied Sciences, vol. 8, p. 1212, 2018.
[8] R.-C. Leou and J.-J. Hung, "Optimal Charging
Schedule Planning and Economic Analysis for
Electric Bus Charging Stations," Energies, vol. 10,
no. 4, p. 483, 2017.
[9] Q. Dai, T. Cai, S. Duan and F. Zhao, "Stochastic
Modeling and Forecasting of Load Demand for
Electric Bus Battery-Swap Station," IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 29, no. 4, p.
1909, 2014.
[10] P. Palensky, A. A. van der Meer, C. D. Lopez, A.
Joseph and K. Pan, "Cosimulation of Intelligent
Power Systems: Fundamentals, Software
Architecture, Numerics and Coupling," IEEE
Industrial Electronics Magazine, vol. 11, no. 1, pp.
34-50, 2017.
[11] M. Stifter, R. Schwalbe, F. Andren and T. Strasser,
"Steady-State Co-Simulation with PowerFactory," in
Modeling and Simulation of Cyber-Physical Energy
Systems (MSCPES), Berkeley, USA, 2013.
[12] T. Hess, J. Dickert and P. Schegner, "Multivariate
power flow analyses for smart grid applications
utilizing Mosaik," in IEEE PES Innovative Smart
Grid Technologies Conference Europe (ISGT-
Europe), Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2016.
[13] X. Kong and X. Yu, "Co-Simulation of a Marine
Electrical Power System using PowerFactory and
Matlab/Simulink," in IEEE Electric Ship
Technologies Symposium (ESTS), Arlington, USA,
2013.
[14] P. Palensky, E. Widl, M. Stifter and A. Elsheikh,
"Modeling Intelligent Energy Systems: Co-
Simulation Platform for Validating Flexible-
Demand EV Charging Management," IEEE
Transactions on Smart Grid, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 1939-
1947, 2013.
[15] C. D. Lopez, A. A. van der Meer, M. Cvetkovic and
P. Palensky, "A variable-rate co-simulation
environment for the dynamic anylsis of multi-area
systems," in IEEE Manchester PowerTech,
Manchester, UK, 2017.
[16] A. Jahic, M. Eskander and D. Schulz, "Charging
Schedule for Load Peak Minimization on Large-
Scale Electric Bus Depots," Applied Sciences, vol. 9,
no. 9, p. 1748, 2019.

View publication stats