Use Cases of Digital Models and Digital Twins in Power Supply Systems of Large Consumers

Therefore, digital models and digital twins have become essential for improving the reliability and efficiency of industrial power supply systems and external grids. This work extends previous research on digital twins for coordination between DSOs and consumers (CIGRE 2025, Trondheim) by focusing on use cases on the side of large consumers. Unlike most existing studies centered on large-scale power systems, the paper emphasizes the emerging role of industrial consumers as active actors in system operation and planning.

The paper presents a consumer-centric digital twin (DT) architecture for large industrial power supply systems, aligned with ISO 23247 and ISO 30173, which includes observable assets, data acquisition and control, digital entities, and application layers. DT architecture enables its application across power system analysis, asset health management, and predictive energy management use cases. Three main use cases have been considered. The first use case involves comprehensive modeling of an internal power system, including RES and ESS, enabling steady state, shortcircuit, and dynamic studies. With sufficient data exchange frequency, such models evolve into digital twins and support more effective planning and operation. The second use case addresses condition-based maintenance (CBM), where digital twins aggregate diagnostic data, apply predictive analytics to assess remaining useful life (RUL), and support optimized maintenance decisions. The third use case focuses on predictive load management and market participation, using short-term load forecasting to evaluate peak demand, and economic feasibility of participation in market and tariff mechanisms.

Overall, the paper presents a systematic approach to applying digital models and digital twins for large consumers, showing that the transition from digital models to digital twins depends on achieving sufficient depth and frequency of synchronization, as well as on adapting information models and improving interoperability between consumer and ISO/DSO.