Development of Digital Twin Applications in Power Systems to Improve Operation of Emerging Grid Technology

Power systems are continuously increasing in penetration of renewable energy resources and new technologies. Carbon-neutral requirements across the United States act as a catalyst forcing wide spread acceleration of these implementations. However, grid advancements exacerbate existing problems and potentially create new issues. New technologies for system planning and operation must be developed alongside the advancement of power systems. One such new technology is digital twins. Digital twins are a relatively new research topic in power systems. The main concept of a digital twin is a model of a real-world system that can run online with the physical system utilizing measurement data streams to synchronize. Digital twins are currently under-utilized in power system operation and control. The technology can be leveraged to predict problematic system conditions and develop mitigating strategies, diagnose anomalous system behavior, plan, and evaluate impact of potential control actions and perform post-mortem analysis. These benefits will be even greater as grid technologies continue to advance and add new challenges to power system operations. This dissertation discusses issues related to the current trajectory of energy source and technology advancements, as well as the implementation of digital twins and potential applications to mitigate the aforementioned issues.