Since the electric power and power electronic systems are becoming increasingly important in applications such as electric vehicles, ships, trains, and distributed generation systems is increasingly important the need to use simulation and modeling tools, easy to use and accurate. The design and optimization of electrical devices and systems, prior to prototyping and manufacturing, it is easier and more economical thanks to PSCAD™.

Grid operator engineers and technicians, electric equipment manufacturers, consulting, engineering and research companies, and also academic institutions are PSCAD™ users. PSCAD™ is used during the planning, design and operation phases of power system. It is also very common in the research of power systems worldwide.

Some typical applications of PSCAD™ for a better understanding of power systems are:

• Find over voltages in a power system due to a fault, a breaker operation or a capacitor switching event.
• Non-linear phenomena in transformers, such as saturation, are critical factors that can be considered.
• Parametric studies are commonly used to run hundreds of simulations to find the worst case when the phase shift of a fault, the fault type, or its location varies.
• Find overvoltages in power systems due to lightning strikes. This simulation is done with very small time step (nano-seconds).
• Find the harmonics generated by Power electronic devices (SVC,HVDC link, STATCOM, Machine drives) with accurate models of thyristors, GTO, IGBT, diodes, etc.., along with detailed control systems, analog or digital.
• Analysis of phenomena associated with power quality, including harmonics, flicker and resonance problems.
• Applications in distribution networks.
• Tune and design control systems for maximum performance. Parametric analysis is commonly used to automatically tune gains and time constants.
• Investigate sub synchronous resonance (SSR) due to the interaction of machines, turbines and other loads with series compensated lines or power electronics equipment.
• Modeling of STATCOM or VSC with detailed control models.
• Study of interactions between SVC, HVDC and other non-linear devices.
• Stability analysis due to harmonic resonance or control interactions.
• Analysis of pulsating effects of diesel engines and wind generators on the grid.
• Insulation coordination studies.
• Simulation of different types of variable speed drives including cycloconverters and transport and embedded systems.
• Analysis of industrial systems, including compensation controllers, drives, electric arc furnaces, filters, etc.
• Study of transient phenomena in distributed generation, such as wind power, or grid tied microturbines.