ABOUT RTDS TECHNOLOGIES

Every superhero has an origin story

How the real-time simulator changed the power industry.

RTDS Technologies head office Winnipeg

The RTDS Simulator introduced a level of accessibility and flexibility that had never been seen before by the power industry when it came to testing protection and control equipment

For much of the 20th century, analogue simulators – expensive and relatively inflexibly devices that could reach the size of gymnasiums – were used to study power system behaviour in real time and to perform basic testing on equipment. RTDS Technologies changed the power industry forever by introducing the world’s first fully digital real-time power system simulator.

1986
RTDS development project begins.
1989
World's first real-time digital HVDC simulation.
1993
First commercial installation.
1994
RTDS Technologies Inc. is founded.
1995
First large scale simulator (12 racks installed at KCC in Japan).
1997
3PC is released to eventually replace the first-generation processor card, the TPC.
2001
Installation of world’s largest simulator at KEPS in South Korea.
2003
RSCAD software is released to replace PSCAD as the simulation software More powerful processor card, RPC, is released.
2005
100th RTDS Simulator installation at Strathclyde University in Scotland Giga-processor card, GPC, released, providing significantly more processing capabilities over previous hardware generations.
2009
GTWIF card is released.
2010
RTDS celebrates its 200th customer (University of Ljubljana).
2011
PB5 processor card released.
2012
RSCAD v3.0 released.
2014
Staff grows to 50 employees!

Largest sale so far in RTDS history (18 racks) is the 300th customer (UNSW). Largest ever university installation.

2016
RSCAD v5, featuring a revamped compiler, released.

Recipients of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the prairie region – Technology and Communication category.

2017
Over 1500 racks sold to date (well over 15x more than what many initially believed could be sold in the lifetime of the technology).

NovaCor, a new generation of simulation hardware, based on IBM’s Power8 processor, is released First RTDS ATC Conference hosted in Winnipeg.

Record-breaking contract with NARI signed (36 NovaCor chassis). Largest sale to date.

2018
RTDS sales surpass $500M.

Surpassed 100 projects with Siemens Germany alone.

Surpassed 400 customers.

2019
RTDS Simulator is installed in 50th country.

Sold over 350 NovaCor chassis in first 2 years.

Sold over 1000 NovaCor core licenses!

Staff grows to 75 employees.

The RTDS Simulator allowed utilities, manufacturers, and research and educational institutions to test multiple devices in a closed loop with the simulated network while easily adjusting network parameters, contingency scenarios, and device settings for the first time.

Real-time digital simulation with the RTDS Simulator rose from emerging technology to industry standard for comprehensively de-risking the integration of control and protection systems and power equipment.

RTDS Technologies staff lead a tutorial at a User’s Group Meeting
RTDS Technologies staff lead a tutorial at a User’s Group Meeting

Why do we continue to be the tool of choice for industry leaders today? Our commitment to user support.

The RTDS Simulator uses highly customized proprietary hardware and software, developed specifically for real-time power system simulation by RTDS Technologies. This deep product knowledge allows us to achieve unparalleled efficiency and stability for our simulations and support our users in ways that other simulator providers can’t.

  • World-class dedicated simulation support team to help users achieve the most meaningful and successful possible projects
  • Comprehensive technical support for even the most uncommon and complex software or hardware issues
  • Simulations running bare-metal and with cache-only memory on IBM’s POWER8™ processor for ultimate efficiency
  • Highly robust and proven power system and power electronics modelling library through twenty-five years of experience

Made in Canada, used worldwide

The entire RTDS Technologies team works out of our state-of-the-art facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – a global hub for power systems research. Here, some of the greatest minds in our industry develop our software and hardware, provide technical support to our users, and run all the needed behind-the-scenes tasks to support the worldwide reach of the RTDS Simulator, currently used in over 50 countries.

RTDS Technologies headquarters

We work with exclusive representatives around the world to help provide local sales and technical support in a large number of countries and territories.