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Energy distribution systems can improve in adaptiveness by applying the concepts of cyber-physical systems (CPS), cyber-physical enterprise, and service-oriented architecture. With these paradigms, the information and communications technology (ICT) systems can respond to changes in the requirements and conditions of the environment, improving responsiveness to the fluctuation of electricity production from renewable energy sources (RES). This paper analyzes the suitability of a CPS architecture for the electricity distribution system. The novelty comes from a service-oriented model where customers and microgrids can sell services to one another and operators, building added value on existing energy resources. The architecture is analyzed with a coordinated voltage control (CVC) use case. The results suggest that the architecture can open new possibilities in utilizing energy resources and enables a customer-driven, distributed scheme instead of the strict operator-centric hierarchy of the contemporary systems.

Modular co-simulation contributes to both engineering and research, but the earlier solutions have lacked the combination of platform independence, loose coupling between the modules, and tools for straightforward development. This paper describes the simulation platform SimCES (Simulation Environment of Complex Energy System) that solves these issues with a microservice architecture, combining message-broker-based communication, containerization, and a development toolkit. The components can even communicate over Internet. Furthermore, there are developer tools that enable an easy start for developers with Python and Docker, but any external platform is possible too. SimCES is domain agnostic but stems from the energy domain.