Survey Paper of Digital Twins and their Integration into Electric Power Systems

Digital twins are introduced as a solution for various power distribution system applications and security. Power distribution systems engineers lack the capability of knowing the real time status of the system and potential vulnerabilities that can harm it. The digital twin's ability to perform real time calculations and analyses make them a unique tool that can strengthen our understanding of current functions within the power grid, mitigate threats, and perform analyses to improve decision making. The goal of this paper is to introduce digital twins and demonstrate how their application in power systems can help improve efficiency, reliability, and functionality.