Software Developed in Novosibirsk Strengthens Power Security

Supporting grid designers

The development is an intelligent decision-support tool for power system designers. Written in Python, the software analyzes grid reliability, identifies nodes with voltage deviations, and proposes economically justified options for deploying specialized equipment – voltage regulation points and reclosers, devices used to protect and sectionalize power lines. Reclosers play a critical role in emergency scenarios: they automatically isolate damaged sections and almost instantly switch consumers to backup supply routes. Because such equipment is costly, the software’s ability to rapidly evaluate thousands of possible deployment configurations and select the optimal one delivers a tangible economic benefit.

Applications for the oil and gas sector

The project’s significance has been recognized by experts at Gazprom Neft. In the domestic market, the software can be applied to the design and modernization of distribution grids, energy-intensive industrial facilities, and sites with autonomous power supply. Its Python-based architecture also opens opportunities for adaptation to international standards and potential export, particularly amid growing global demand for intelligent power grid reliability analysis systems, often referred to as smart grids.

A key area of further development is integration with real industrial automation systems, such as SCADA, and testing on large volumes of operational data. In this sense, the NSTU solution fits squarely into Russia’s broader trend toward digitalizing the power sector.

Because reclosers are relatively expensive devices, the software selects and proposes optimal options for both the number of reclosers and their placement to ensure reliability. This is particularly important for industrial facilities, where emergency downtime leads to losses of oil and gas and, as a result, significant economic damage

Nikita Sergeev

Teaching Assistant, Department of Power Plants, NSTU NETI

A shifting technological landscape

The NSTU development has emerged against the backdrop of active import substitution in the industry. In recent years, Russian power engineers have been moving away from foreign tools such as MATLAB/Simulink and PowerFactory toward domestically developed alternatives. One example is the Engee platform, designed for creating dynamic power system models and developing control algorithms. It includes an extensive component library and allows engineers to simulate relay protection, automation systems, and even the consequences of short circuits.

Another example is the TKZ++ software, which automates the calculation of emergency operating modes and helps verify protection settings and equipment stability. There is also RELEX software for modeling processes in power systems of arbitrary configuration. Against this backdrop, the new software from Novosibirsk complements the emerging ecosystem of Russian digital tools for the power industry, with a particular focus on automated searches for optimal engineering solutions to enhance grid resilience.

Responding to new challenges

The NSTU development represents a practical response to the challenges of improving reliability and accelerating digitalization in the power sector. It reduces the labor intensity of design work and makes it possible to embed high fault tolerance into grid architecture in advance, within a virtual environment.

Over the next two to three years, such tools are expected to be adapted in pilot projects by Russian power companies. In the longer term, commercial versions may emerge, along with integration into national infrastructure management platforms and further development toward predictive analytics based on big data. At a time when stable power supply is increasingly seen as a cornerstone of national security, Russian IT solutions of this kind are taking on clear strategic importance.