Controls

Part of the element reference. The PF, SC, OPF and MS abbreviations and the 🔴 🟡 🟢 markers in the parameter tables are explained under Element Details.

The sidebar Controls palette groups plant and feeder controllers. It uses two analysis-oriented sub-tabs:

Double-click a control on the diagram to open its parameter dialog. OpenDSS controls are created as native OpenDSS objects when you run OpenDSS load flow. Wind Turbine Controllers are applied on the frontend (they do not create OpenDSS RegControl-style objects).

Wind Turbine Controller (steady-state)

pandapower OpenDSS

Palette: Controls → Steady-state → Common. Diagram label defaults to WindTurbineController (steady-state).

Chain linked to a Wind Turbine by name:

Wind Speed Input → Lookup (Power Curve) → Pref / P

Steady-state load flow: When enabled and linked, Electrisim sets the turbine’s p_mw (Pref) from wind speed and the selected power curve, then runs the normal load flow.

When you need it vs the turbine alone: The Wind Turbine already computes p_mw from its own curve and speed. Use this controller to:

  • Override wind speed on the controller (uncheck “use turbine wind speed”), or
  • Use a dedicated Controller Curve instead of the turbine’s machine curve (same built-in P(v) templates as the Wind Turbine: 2.5 MW onshore, 3.3 MW onshore, 15 MW offshore).

Averaging and gradient limiting live on the separate dynamic controller.

Key parameters

Parameter Description Type Simulation Types
name Controller name string đź”´ PF
wind_turbine Name of the linked Wind Turbine on the diagram string đź”´ PF
enabled When false, the controller is ignored boolean đź”´ PF
use_turbine_wind_speed If true, Pref uses the turbine’s wind_speed_ms; if false, uses the controller’s wind speed boolean 🔴 PF
wind_speed_ms Controller wind speed (used when not using the turbine speed) float đź”´ PF
power_curve_type Turbine Power Curve or Controller Curve string đź”´ PF

Engines: Pref is applied for both pandapower and OpenDSS load flow. The controller cell itself is skipped as an OpenDSS native control object.

Wind Turbine Controller (dynamic)

pandapower OpenDSS

Palette: Controls → Dynamic → Common. Diagram label defaults to WindTurbineController (dynamic).

Chain linked to a Wind Turbine by name:

Wind Speed Averaging → Gradient Limiter → Active Power Averaging

Time-domain only: Parameters are stored for RMS / transient studies. Snapshot load flow does not apply averaging or gradient limiting — use the steady-state controller (or the turbine’s own curve) for Pref.

Key parameters

Parameter Description Type Simulation Types
wind_turbine Name of the linked Wind Turbine string 🟡 Dynamic
wind_avg_T / wind_avg_Tavg Wind-speed averaging time constants float 🟡 Dynamic
gradient_T / gradient_max Gradient limiter time constant and max ramp [MW/s] float 🟡 Dynamic
power_avg_T / power_avg_Tavg Active-power averaging time constants float 🟡 Dynamic

Park Controller (steady-state, pandapower)

pandapower

Station / park controller for pandapower load flow. It coordinates reactive power of linked Wind Turbines and Static Generators to meet a plant-level target. The same object is used by Grid Code Compliance (P-Q) and Grid Code Compliance (V-Q) when Plant Q dispatch is set to Park Controller (constant Q at the point of connection during the capability search).

Palette: Controls → Steady-state → Pandapower. Diagram label defaults to ParkController (steady-state).

Control modes (General tab):

  • Voltage Control — hold bus voltage (optional droop: rated Q + droop %).
  • Reactive Power Control — Const Q, Q(V) or Q(P) characteristic at a busbar, line, or transformer boundary.
  • Power Factor Control — Const cosφ, or cosφ(P)/cosφ(V) characteristics (converted to a Q setpoint) at a busbar, line, or transformer. See cosφ(P) characteristic below.
  • tan(φ) Control — Q = P Ă— tan(φ) at a busbar, line, or transformer boundary.

Distribution: share plant Q among machines by dispatched P, rated S, Q capability (P–Q / P–U curve band at current P and terminal voltage), individual %, maximise reserve (remaining headroom on the curve), or equal shares (voltage setpoint adaption). Enable Use machine P–Q capability curves so each Wind Turbine / Static Generator Q capability tab limits park Q (clamp plant setpoint + enforce min/max Q at current P and U).

cosφ(P) characteristic

On the General tab, set PF-Control to cosphi(P)-Characteristic. Electrisim stores two branches (overexcited and underexcited). Each branch is one operating point: Min. power factor at a given Active power [MW].

Branch (stored value) Also shown as Meaning (generator convention)
Overexcited capacitive Plant injects Q (Q ≥ 0). Same side as Wind Turbine Qmax / capacitive max.
Underexcited inductive Plant absorbs Q (Q < 0). Same side as Wind Turbine Qmin / inductive max.

Excitation branch chooses which curve is used:

  • Overexcited (capacitive) or Underexcited (inductive) — force that branch.
  • Auto (by Q sign) — Overexcited when measured Q ≥ 0 at Control Q at, otherwise Underexcited.

The dialog labels use Overexcited / Underexcited and also show capacitive/inductive so both machine language and grid-side Q language are visible. Stored attributes remain Overexcited / Underexcited.

How it runs

  1. Drop a Park Controller; open it and select connected machines by name.
  2. Set control mode, measurement bus or boundary (line/transformer name), and setpoints / characteristic tables.
  3. Run pandapower Load Flow. Electrisim attaches pandapower BinarySearchControl (and DroopControl when droop is enabled) and enables run_control automatically when a Park Controller is present.

Note: OpenDSS ignores Park Controllers. Balanced load flow uses positive-sequence voltage only. Sync Generators (gen) are not Q-controlled by BinarySearchControl in current pandapower — link Wind Turbines / Static Generators (sgens).

Documentation: pandapower Station Controller / BinarySearchControl

RegControl (OpenDSS)

OpenDSS

OpenDSS regulator control attached to a transformer by canvas name. Used in OpenDSS load flow (and related studies such as DG interconnection mitigations) to hold regulated voltage within a band.

Palette: Controls → Steady-state → OpenDSS.

Parameter Description Type Typical default
name Control name string RegControl
transformer Transformer name (or bus reference) on the diagram string —
winding Controlled winding integer 2
vreg Regulated voltage [V] float 120
band Bandwidth [V] float 3
ptratio / ctprim PT ratio and CT primary [A] float 60 / 300
delaying Control delay [s] float 15
enabled Enable / disable the control boolean true

Documentation: OpenDSS RegControl

CapControl (OpenDSS)

OpenDSS

OpenDSS capacitor control linked to a capacitor (or bus) by name. Switches capacitor banks based on voltage, current, kvar, or time.

Palette: Controls → Steady-state → OpenDSS.

Parameter Description Type Typical default
name Control name string CapControl
capacitor Capacitor name (or bus reference) string —
type Control type string Voltage / Current / kvar / Time
on_setting / off_setting ON / OFF thresholds (units depend on type) float 115 / 125
ctratio / ptratio CT / PT ratios float 1 / 1
delay Switching delay [s] float 15
enabled Enable / disable the control boolean true

Documentation: OpenDSS CapControl

StorageController (OpenDSS)

OpenDSS

OpenDSS storage dispatch controller. Controlled Storage elements are exported with external dispatch mode so the controller can set charge / discharge.

Palette: Controls → Steady-state → OpenDSS.

Parameter Description Type Typical default
name Control name string StorageController
element Storage name(s), comma-separated string —
mode Dispatch mode string PeakShave / LoadFollow / Time / Support
kwtarget kW target for peak-shave / support modes float 0
pct_reserve Minimum state-of-charge reserve [%] float 20
enabled Enable / disable the control boolean true

Documentation: OpenDSS Storage

Last updated: October 2026

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