PSS®E-32 Release Notes

PSS®E high-performance transmission planning software has supported the power community with
meticulous and comprehensive modeling capabilities since its introduction in 1976. PSS®E-32
introduces a number of new analytical models as well as improvements to basic power flow and
dynamic simulation activities, building on the desktop innovations introduced with PSS®E-31.
Responding to customer needs for integrated transmission and generation planning, PSS®E-32
contains new features in contingency analysis and substation reliability assessment, along with
enhanced short circuit functions and additions to power flow modeling. Switches and breakers have
been added to Slider diagram components, along with templates for adding repetitive diagram
assemblies. Generic wind models with generator, electrical, and aerodynamic controls are now
benchmarked PSS®E dynamic models. Results from dynamic analysis can now be rapidly
displayed on customer-designed plots.
Experienced users of PSS®E will welcome a command line integrated into the PSS®E graphical
interface, permitting the many PSS®E API routines and line mode commands to be run interactively
without leaving the main program window.
With PSS®E-32, Siemens Power Technologies International remains the catalyst for confident
power system planning. An analytical prototype for NERC Category 3 contingencies, created as a
Python module, anticipates growing use of N-1-1 modeling as a planning tool.

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Major PSS®E-32 Features

Improved Program Performance over PSS®E-31

Numerous changes have been made to improve the performance of the analysis engines as well as
improving the responsiveness of the interface when working with large networks and diagrams.
Contingency analysis shows improvements of ~45%. Power flow solutions show an improvement of
~35% and dynamic simulations show an improvement of ~40%.

Improved Switched Shunt Modeling

Each switched shunt operating in discrete mode may be adjusted using either of two adjustment
methods:

 the sequential input order method in use prior to revision 32

 a "nearest combination" method in which an arbitrary combination of switched shunt blocks

may be switched on in order to obtain the next higher (or lower, as appropriate) total
switched shunt admittance; in this method, both reactors and capacitors may be switched
on at the same time.
There is now a status attribute associated with each switched shunt.

Improved Contingency Files Commands

The following improvements have been made to the contingency file command structure:

 The number of contingency elements in a contingency event is increased from 16 to 32.

 A command to generate a series of single machine outage contingency cases is added.

 A command to disconnect, in turn, all in-service buses in a specified subsystem is added.

 The automatic single and double line outage contingency commands SINGLE, DOUBLE,
BUSDOUBLE and PARALLEL have been modified as follows:
o If the keyword BRANCH, LINE or TIE is specified, all branches in the grouping
except breakers and switches are included in the contingencies.
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o If the keyword BREAKER is specified, only breakers and switches in the grouping
are included in the contingencies.

 A command to trip an in-service switched shunt may be specified as a contingency event.

 The ADD and REMOVE commands allow the status change of an individual load or fixed
shunt.

 The ALTER/SET/INCREASE/DECREASE ... SHUNT commands recognize the MVAR

keyword in addition to MW and PERCENT.

 A command to change current or power demand, and scheduled compounded dc voltage of

two-terminal dc lines is added.

 In the Monitored Element Data File, the commands for monitoring branches have been
modified as follows:
o If the keyword BRANCH, LINE or TIE is specified, all branches in the grouping
except breakers and switches are added as monitored elements.
o If the keyword BREAKER is specified, only breakers and switches in the grouping
are added as monitored elements.

Renumbering of Buses in Configuration Files

The function to renumber buses in auxiliary files, RNFI, has been enhanced to recognize
Subsystem Description Data Files, Monitored Element Data Files, Contingency Description Data
Files, and Tripping Element Data Files.

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Non-Conforming Loads
Each load may be characterized as either scalable (conforming) or fixed (non-conforming). Only
scalable subsystem loads are modified by the SCAL API routine; similarly, only scalable subsystem
loads participate in the transfer increment of P-V analysis when subsystem load is specified as the
transfer increment method.

Elimination of Working Files

The three permanent "working files" are eliminated, for example lfwork.bin. In their place, several
temporary scratch files are created and used as needed. This avoids the potential "collision" of the
working files when multiple copies of PSS®E are executing at the same time and prevents PSS®E
from being started multiple times from the same working directory. This also reduces the number of
occurrences of functions being allowed to execute when their prerequisite data is not current in the
"working files".

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Auto-resizing of Program Dimensions

When reading a Saved Case File or a Snapshot File that exceeds PSS®E's dimensional capacities,
PSS®E automatically re-dimensions itself to a size level that is able to accommodate the Saved
Case or Snapshot.

Substation Reliability Assessment

Another piece of the PSS®TPLAN puzzle has been incorporated into PSS®E, Substation Reliabilty
Analysis.
The Substation Reliability Analysis (SRA) module is used to assess substation reliability. It is
suitable for:

 Comparing substation configuration alternatives

 Evaluating the sensitivity of substation performance to outage statistics, equipment rating as

well as load level

 Determining the impact of equipment maintenance on reliability

The breaker/switch model is introduced into PSS®E using specially identified branches. The first
character of the circuit identifier of non-transformer branches is used to characterize a branch as a
breaker or a switch. If the first character is an at sign ( @ ), the branch is treated as a breaker; if it is
an asterisk ( * ), it is treated as a switch. Typically, breakers and switches are zero impedance lines;
however, any non-transformer branch may be treated as a breaker or a switch.
To support SRA modeling, there is a modest increase in the maximum number of zero impedance
lines at all program size levels greater than 4000 buses.

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Improved AC Corrective Actions

Three types of controls, off-line generator control, tap setting adjustment and switched shunt
control, have been added to AC Corrective Action function.

Improved Multiple AC Contingency Run Report

When tabulating the percentage loading of a monitored element for a Contingency Solution Output
File in the Multiple AC contingency Run Report, the monitored element’s rating is taken from the
appropriate rating set as obtained from the Contingency Solution Output File. In PSS®E 31 and
earlier, the rating of a monitored element was taken from one Contingency Solution Output File and
used for all Contingency Solution Output Files.

Full 4 Digit Representation for Areas, Owners and Zones

While limits still exist on the total number of each of areas, owners and zones that may be
represented, area, owner and zone numbers between 1 and 9999 may now be used at all size
levels of PSS®E.

Zero–Impedance Line Loops

The restriction which prohibited zero impedance line connected loops has been removed.

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Negative Minimum Incremental Transfer

The P-V analysis calculation has been extended to allow a negative minimum incremental transfer.

Subsystem Loads in RAW Output

An option has been added to activity RAWD indicating which loads are to be included in its output:

 all loads at subsystem buses.

 subsystem loads at all buses.

 all loads at subsystem buses and subsystem loads at non-subsystem buses.

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Short Circuit Analysis Enhancements

The functionality of ASCC has been enhanced through the addition of LL and LLG faults. Results
are now presented on the Slider Diagram in the same manner as IECS results. The old Short
Circuit Graphics function, SCGR, has been replaced by this new graphical presentation of Short
Results. In addition, Short Circuit results may now be post-processed using Python APIs for result
extraction and export.
Added a zero sequence two-winding transformer connection code 9 that provides for a series
impedance connected to the winding 1 bus, a series impedance connected to the winding 2 bus,
and an impedance to ground at the junction point of the two series impedances.

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Enhanced Event Studies

Several improvements have been made to enhance the Event Study framework:

 Added the ability to copy and move Events Items between Event Studies using drag and
drop.

 Event Items are now automatically sorted according to time.

 Allow the specification of a unique channel file for each Event Study.

 Added an Automation File Event Item that can be placed anywhere in an Event Study.

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Python Based Report Node

A widely used feature of the old GRPG function is the ability to display a wide array of system
results and summations anywhere on a GRPG report. This feature is enabled in a Slider Diagram
with the creation of the Report Node. The Report Node, shown below, allows the user to pass any
number of arguments to a Python function which is contained within a Python module. Thus any
PSS®E value accessible to Python may be displayed on a Diagram or used in calculations to
derive the displayed value. The Python code can be as simple or complex as desired.
PSS®E v32 ships with some commonly used GRPG commands predefined for immediate use.
Using these as a template, you will easily be able to create your own custom applications.

Expanded Area Reporting

The report of activity AREA has been expanded to tabulate three categories of load: area load at
area buses, area load at non-area buses, and non-area load at area buses. Two categories of net
interchange are tabulated: tie flows and tie flows plus loads. Similar changes are implemented in
activity ZONE. The reports of area totals with zone subtotals and of zone totals with area subtotals
are unchanged.

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PSAS Enhancements
PSAS commands that correspond to the calculations accessible from the Disturbance>Calculate
and apply unbalanced bus fault... and Disturbance>Calculate and apply branch unbalance... menu
entries (i.e., to the DIST_SCMU_FAULT and DIST_SPCB_FAULT API routines) have been added.

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Wind Modeling Enhancements

All four Generic Wind Models now ship as standard PSS®E models. Through the combined efforts
of PTI, various WECC members and turbine manufacturers, these generic models represent the
latest state of the art in wind modeling. The four generic types are :

 Type 1 – Direct connected generator

 Type 2 – Induction generator with external rotor resistor

 Type 3 – Doubly-fed induction generator

 Type 4 – Wind generator model with power converter

The models are WT1G1, WT2G1, WT3G2, WT4G1, WT12A1, WT12T1, WT2E1 and WT4E1.

Dynamic Modeling Enhancements

Several new models have been added to the list of PSS®E standard models

 IEEE 421.5 - ST5B, UEL1, ST7B, PSS4B, DC3A, PSS1A

 Two-Term DC line – CDC7T

The Graphical Model Build, GMB, now supports FACTS and SVC models.

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Revised Documentation Set

The documentation set for PSS®E has been revised for Version 32. All manuals have been
updated to reflect the interface changes that have occurred over the last two releases as well as
updated links to pertinent information. An update index will allow you to easily find the information
you’re looking for.

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Integrated Command Line

The command line is now integrated directly into the PSS®E interface allowing you to run the
program by typing, quickly modifying an open diagram, and resume typing all without leaving the
main window of the program.

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Customized Spreadsheet Appearance

The text and precision of values in spreadsheets can be customized on a column by column basis.

Data Record Dialogs

Data for the first fourteen data categories on the network spreadsheet can be edited through data
record dialogs if enabled in the Program Preferences dialog. If enabled, double-clicking on a
supported network item, either in a Slider Diagram or the Tree View, will pop up a Data Record
dialog. When the dialog is dismissed, the edited component remains selected.

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Improved Data Editing in the Spreadsheets

Previous releases required you to move off a data record in the spreadsheets to record the data
changes (removing the pencil symbol shown below). Now, pressing <Enter> when in a spreadsheet
cell will record all the changes for that record.

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Additional GUI Changes

Spreadsheets and Tree Views have been re-ordered to present data in a organized manner, with
more often used items appearing at the left and top, respectively. In addition, all spreadsheet tabs
now show a full description, with controls used to scroll through the tabs found in the lower left
corner, similar to a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet. A right-click will allow you to jump to any tab in
the spreadsheet.

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Enhanced Integrated Plotting

Version 31 introduced integrated plotting to PSS®E, enabling you to drag and drop channels of
interest onto plots for easy comparison and allowing the creation of highly customized plots.

Version 32 extends this by adding support for the most widely used PSSPLT functions, simplifying
the Plot Editors, providing for Templates to save default plot layouts, and enhancing the plotting
capabilities to handle channel files and interactive plots.

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Enhanced Scenario Manager

Scenarios and the Scenario Manager have been enhanced. Scenarios now support AUTO_OPEN
and AUTO_CLOS Automation files. If loaded, these files will be executed every time the Scenario is
opened or closed. In addition, an integrated data compression function easily allows every file in the
Scenario to be zipped for exchange.

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Diagram Templates
Common network configurations, for example, substations, can be created as Diagram Templates
and then inserted into a Slider Diagram, automatically creating the network elements and Diagram
items. Several useful substation configurations have been provided as examples.

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Graphical Display of Contingency Analysis Results

Contingency solutions stored in a Contingency Analysis Output File can be displayed on diagrams;
options have been provided to step through contingencies in a pre-defined contingency list and/or
solutions of a contingency at different modes. Bus voltages or percent loading of monitored
elements of each contingency can be contoured on an ACCC diagram.

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Dynamic Voltage Violation Check

A new capability has been added to dynamics that monitors bus voltages during dynamic simulation
fault recovery and reports voltage violations, if any.
Two possible violation checks have been added, a voltage recovery check and a voltage dip check.
The voltage recovery check has two options, a primary voltage check (voltage to recover above
threshold V1 faster than t1 seconds after fault clearing) and a secondary voltage check (voltage to
recover above threshold V2 faster than t2 seconds after fault clearing).
The voltage dip check verifies that once voltage has recovered above threshold V3, it should not
dip below that value for longer than t3.

bus
voltage

V2
V3
V1

t3
t1
t2

t0 time

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N-1-1 Analysis Prototype

The category 3 contingencies in NERC’s Transmission System Planning Performance
Requirements are multiple contingencies. These are defined as loss of one component, followed by
system adjustments, and loss of another component. The contingencies are well known as N-1-1
contingencies. At PSS®E 32, a Python module, "n11analysis", is provided to perform N-1-1
contingency analysis. Note that this is a prototype developed in Python and uses various ACCC
APIs available in PSS®E. User comments and inputs are greatly appreciated to improve this
prototype.

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Important Compatibility Notes

 PSS®E-32 SAV files are not compatible with previous versions of PSS®E.

 PSS®E-32 SNP files are not compatible with previous versions of PSS®E.

 PSS®E-32 SLD files are not compatible with previous versions of PSS®E.

 PSS®E-32.0 Beta saved case (SAV) and dynamic snapshot files (SNP) are not compatible
with the final PSS®E-32 release.
As always, data files are forward compatible. The above items deal with issues of backwards
compatibility.

Backward Compatibility with PSS®E-32

Historic Achievements
PTI has always recognized that there are issues involved in moving to new releases of PSS®E. To
aid in the process, PSS®E has always been able to recognize previous versions of saved case and
dynamics snapshot files and read them into the current release.
Changes in input file formats and command syntaxes have been documented in the PSS®E
Compatibility with Previous Releases Manual.
PTI has always tried to accommodate changes to data input files to allow old formats to be read
and, where that hasn’t been possible, provided conversion programs. This has been particularly
true for recent releases, and PTI has maintained those conversion programs since rev 23. In recent
years PTI has added auxiliary programs to write out old versions of PSS®E raw data files.

More Recent Successes

At rev 30.1.2 PTI introduced new auxiliary programs that combined the various existing conversion
programs and provided easier-to-use GUIs. These new converters can also be invoked from the
command line to allow their use in scripts.
We also introduced APIs with similar capabilities, and made those APIs available in the file menu of
the PSS®E GUI. Therefore, you can read or write older raw data files without using the separate
conversion programs, as well as use the APIs in an automation file.
However, some issues remained. Modifying existing response files and responses coded as PUSH
statements in IPLAN programs can still be a lot of work. In addition, many response files and IPLAN
programs contain RDCH commands; and the effort of finding them can be substantial for users that
have many such files.

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PSS®E Version 32
We recognize that customer effort is required to upgrade programs and automation files with a
major release of PSS®E. We’ve made a few targeted improvements to ease the effort required to
upgrade planning capabilities.
Specifically,
1. The header record for Power Flow raw data files now contains a revision number (see
Chapter 5 of the PSS®E Program Operation Manual). With the revision number set, any
version RAW file can be read by activity READ and the proper conversions will be applied
automatically. Adding the version number to existing RAW files or programs that create
them will allow these files to be used directly in PSS®E without applying external converters
or upgrading external programs to write the new format.
2. PTI added APIs for read-change files and read-by subsystem that accept a version
specification. These new APIs can be called directly from Automation files and allow the use
of older version RAW files without having to first apply external converters. For a full
description of these new APIs, see Chapter 1 of the PSS®E Application Program Interface
(API).
3. PTI added a suffix option for RDCH in the Line Mode Interpreter (LMI), RDCH, OPT, that will
allow the specification of a version for the data contained in the RDCH file. This allows the
proper converters to be applied automatically, meaning that PSS®E-30 and 31 RDCH files
don’t need to be modified to be used in PSS®E-32. For more information see the PSS®E
Compatibility with Previous Releases Manual.
4. Where possible, we’ve allowed changes to APIs to accept old values. For example, if a dc
line number is specified for the dc line name, the number is converted to a name.

 Where such permissiveness was not possible, the old APIs were kept, and new ones
created, such as BUS_DATA_2. BUS_DATA can still be used, and it will call
BUS_DATA_2 after adjusting the arguments for you.
Refer to Chapter 2 of the PSS®E Application Program Interface (API) for detailed information
on these new API routines..
5. The internal format of the PV and QV results files has changed, so PTI added versioning to
the APIs that read these files to allow the old versions to be read.
6. We’ve enhanced the LMI to read either PSS®E-30, 31 or 32 response files. The mode of
operation is controlled by a new command, VERSION.

 In a response file, you can tell the LMI to assume response file commands were written
for PSS®E-30 or 31 and to interpret them accordingly, by setting the first line to “version
30” or “version 31”. When the response file is terminated, you may manually reset the
LMI processing mode to PSS®E-32 format.

 In an IPLAN program you can tell the LMI to assume response file commands were
written for PSS®E-30 or 31 and to interpret them accordingly by setting the entering
”PUSH ‘version 30’” or ”PUSH ‘version 31’” in the beginning of your IPLAN program.
As above, when the IPLAN program is terminated, you may manually reset the LMI
processing mode to PSS®E-32 format.

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We intend to develop the capability to minimize update efforts for existing planning data in future
versions. For more on this see the PSS®E Compatibility with Previous Releases Manual.

Compiler Information

General Information
PSS®E-32 is built using the Intel Visual Fortran (IVF) 10.1 compiler and the Microsoft® Visual
C/C++ 2008.net compiler. This is the recommended platform to use for building user-written
extensions to PSS®E-32, such as Conec, Conet, and user-written dynamics models. Fortran code
must be compiled with IVF 9.1 or later. IVF 10.1 comes with the VSPPE option, which will work
with PSS®E-32 as well. When using a version of IVF other than 10.1, please be aware that the
later run-time libraries must be used. The PSS®E Environment Manager, which is delivered with
PSS®E-32, or downloadable from our website, can assist with maintaining environment variables
associated with controlling the compiler versions in use.

Additional Notes
** Please note that purchase of the compilers is not necessary if you are just running PSS®E. The
FORTRAN and C run-time libraries will continue to be included with PSS®E, as in the past. The
purchase of a compiler is required only if you are compiling Conec and/or Conet, user-written
dynamics models, or programs that call USRCAS.
Intel has offered a special discounted upgrade fee to Siemens PTI customers. To purchase either
the upgrade or a new license of Intel Visual FORTRAN compiler under this offer, you must contact
Frankie Terlecki at frank.terlecki@intel.com. Please be sure Siemens PTI customer is stated in the
subject line.

User-Written Model Notes

Since PSS®E-31, DC line and FACTS devices are identified by 12 character devices names
instead of numbers. To retain backward compatibility of old Saved Case files, device names are
now set to the old device number left justified e.g. 1 becomes “1 “. However, User-Written
models of these devices that are called in Conec and/or Conet will have to be modified to map the
old device number to its corresponding new internal device index. Please contact PSS®E support if
you have any questions on how to proceed with this.

___________________________
© Copyright 1990-2009 Siemens Energy, Inc., Siemens Power Technologies International (Siemens PTI)
Information in this document and any software described herein is confidential and subject to change without notice and does
not represent a commitment on the part of Siemens PTI. The software described in this document is furnished under a license
agreement or nondisclosure agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the agreement. No
part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use, without the express written permission of Siemens
PTI.
®
PSS E high-performance transmission planning software is a registered trademark of Siemens PTI in the United States and other
countries.
Microsoft® Visual C/C++ and Microsoft Office Excel®is are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and
other countries.
Intel® Visual Fortran Compiler for Windows is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
The Python™ programming language is a trademark of the Python Software Foundation.
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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