Research, development & innovation.
Power grid management systems, real-time state estimation and the integration of electric mobility in the service of reliability and the energy transition — in partnership with universities and research centres, with intellectual property preserved.
World-class research insight.
Our work builds on the state of the art of power systems — and we take inspiration in particular from the reference work of professor Innocent Kamwa, whose international reach covers exactly our fields.
Innocent Kamwa — Hydro-Québec's Research Institute (IREQ)
Currently a professor at Université Laval and former head of expertise in "Simulation and Evolution of Power Systems" at Hydro-Québec's Research Institute (IREQ), Innocent Kamwa carried out work of prime importance for the Québec transmission grid. An IEEE Fellow with international reach, he is a world authority on modern power grids.
Areas of expertise
| Area | Contributions |
|---|---|
| State estimation & synchrophasors | Foundational work on dynamic state estimation (extended Kalman filters applied to PMUs) and wide-area grid monitoring. |
| Stability & control | Development of the multiband power system stabilizer (multiband PSS) and major contributions to international standards for testing electrical machines. |
| Distributed resources & microgrids | Massive integration of distributed assets (PV, storage, V2G) into decarbonized and digitalized grids, resilient and autonomous microgrids. |
| AI & big data | Digital twins, automation of grid operation and intensive use of data for smart grid management. |
And much more: these four areas only skim the surface of his research, which spans the full life cycle of power grids — from planning to real-time operation.
Reference works
Professor Kamwa's work, published in the leading journals of the field, feeds our innovation chain directly — we take inspiration from it for every technical building block.
| Work | Reference | How it feeds our innovation |
|---|---|---|
| Wide-area measurement based stabilizing control of large power systems — a decentralized/hierarchical approach | I. Kamwa, R. Grondin, Y. Hébert, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2001 | The reference on inter-area stabilization using wide-area grid measurements. |
| Dynamic state estimation in power system by applying the extended Kalman filter with unknown inputs to phasor measurements | E. Ghahremani, I. Kamwa, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2011 | Dynamic state estimation applied to PMUs, at the core of our real-time estimators. |
| IEEE PSS2B versus PSS4B: the limits of performance of modern power system stabilizers | I. Kamwa, R. Grondin, G. Trudel, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2005 | The comparative framework for multiband power system stabilizers. |
| Online state estimation of a synchronous generator using unscented Kalman filter from phasor measurement units | E. Ghahremani, I. Kamwa, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 2011 | Real-time estimation of a synchronous machine from synchrophasors. |
| Local and wide-area PMU-based decentralized dynamic state estimation in multi-machine power systems | E. Ghahremani, I. Kamwa, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2016 | Decentralized state estimation, the basis of our distributed EMS/ADMS architectures. |
| Dynamic state estimation for power system control and protection | Y. Liu, A. K. Singh, J. Zhao, A. P. Meliopoulos, B. Pal, …, I. Kamwa, …, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2021 | The roadmap for state estimation serving control and protection. |
And much more: this selection reflects only part of his work — hundreds of publications on state estimation, grid control, modelling and distributed intelligence feed our approach.
These references inform our architectural choices — estimators, controllers, intelligent agents — while remaining within our own intellectual property framework.
Operating the grid in real time.
We design and deploy the software stacks that move a grid from passive supervision to predictive operation: EMS, ADMS, state estimation and coordination of distributed resources.
EMS — Energy Management
Real-time supervision, generation dispatch and frequency-power control (AGC). Operating cost optimization, reserve management and compliance with transmission grid constraints.
Discuss a project →ADMS & distribution supervision
Topology and models of MV/LV networks, voltage and constraint management, assisted service restoration after outages and coordination of grid automation schemes.
Learn more →State estimation & observability
Real-time reconstruction of the complete grid state from partial measurements: weighted least squares (WLS), SCADA/PMU fusion and detection of faulty measurements.
Explore the method →DERMS & microgrids
Aggregation and control of distributed resources (PV, storage, V2G), coordination with the microgrid controller, controlled islanding and black-start strategies.
Coordinate assets →State estimation: seeing the grid where there is no measurement.
A real grid cannot be measured at every point. State estimators reconstruct the missing quantities and provide a coherent, filtered and reliable basis for secure and optimized operation.
Algorithms & robustness
We develop static and dynamic estimators adapted to your infrastructure:
- Static WLS estimation — weighted least squares, detection and rejection of bad data, redundancy and observability analysis.
- Dynamic estimators — Kalman filters (EKF / UKF) for state tracking under transients and ultra-short-term forecasting.
- Observability — optimal placement of PMU (synchrophasor) measurement units for complete coverage at minimal cost.
From SCADA to intelligent supervision
The state estimator becomes the trusted module feeding all decision-support tools:
- Native integration of SCADA and PMU to cover both the static and dynamic behaviour of the grid.
- Real-time reconstruction of voltage, power flows and phase angles for constraint management.
- Coupling with real-time optimization (OPF) and security analysis (contingencies, N-1).
Measurement at the heart of decision-making.
An estimator can only be as good as its instrumentation. The previous section covered the algorithms; this one covers the chain that produces the data: what to instrument, how to calibrate it, and how to keep the measurement trustworthy over time.
Instrumenting: measurement as an engineering decision
We treat instrumentation as an optimization rather than an add-on:
- Accuracy classes and measurement chains — selecting transducers, accuracy classes and the analog-to-digital conversion chain according to the voltage level and the measured quantity.
- Static and dynamic coverage — sizing the instrumentation to cover both steady state and transients, instead of under-instrumenting the dynamics and discovering the limit during an incident.
- Synchrophasor measurement placement — where to place PMUs for complete observability at optimized cost: a combinatorial optimization problem, not arbitrary instrument coverage.
Time stamping, quality and traceability
A measurement without a timestamp is unusable. We secure the full chain, from acquisition to decision:
- Time synchronization — qualifying the timestamp (GPS, PTP) and monitoring drift; without it, comparison between measurements is meaningless.
- Continuous quality control — detecting and rejecting bad data, managing redundancy, checking thresholds and time tag consistency in real time.
- Commissioning and calibration — testing the measurement chain, calibrating models against real measurements and tracking deviations, so results hold up under audit.
V2G: the electric vehicle as a grid asset.
We design the intelligent integration of electric mobility with the grid: smart charging (V1G), bidirectional injection (V2G) and fleet aggregation for system services.
Smart charging (V1G)
Shifting and shedding charging loads while preserving user mobility: peak smoothing, reduced power draw and lower grid reinforcement needs.
Plan charging →Bidirectional injection (V2G)
Using onboard batteries as a buffer reserve: frequency participation, peak shaving and local voltage support on MV/LV networks.
Assess the potential →Fleet aggregation
Grouping vehicles into virtual resources coordinated with the DERMS, to access energy markets and provide predictable, contracted reserves.
Aggregate a fleet →Charging infrastructure
Sizing of charging parks (AC/DC, normal and fast), impact on the distribution transformer and coordination with the local grid and distributed generation.
Size a station →Data in the service of operations.
NTS Energies develops AI tools applied to electrical data to optimize operations, performance and asset integration.
Data intelligence
Processing and value creation from grid data: measurement time series, anomaly detection, load profiles and consumption modulation through predictive analytics.
Discuss a project →Electrical energy storage
Sizing and intelligent control of storage systems — in partnership with EVLO and other suppliers — for PV generation smoothing, frequency reserve and grid stability.
Learn more →Electricity trading
Strategies for buying and selling electricity, peak-period optimization and monetization of the flexibility of your facilities on the energy markets.
Talk to us →HVAC — Building climate systems
Energy optimization of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, the largest energy consumers in buildings, to reduce both your bill and your electrical peak.
Optimize a building →Advanced modelling of electrical grids.
Our R&D work covers the dynamic modelling of grids, from generation to loads, and the development of intelligent agents able to build, validate and operate faithful electrical models.
PV plant integration
High-fidelity modelling of generator controllers for stability and interconnection studies:
- REGC_B + REEC_A — optimal control geometry for plants without a plant controller.
- REGC_B + REEC_A + REPC_A — full architecture with a plant controller for large plants.
Each model is validated against actual plant measurements and grid operator requirements, in line with the applicable interconnection guidelines.
Intelligent modelling agents
We develop artificial intelligence agents capable of modelling electrical grids autonomously and with assistance:
- Automatic model building — generation of topologies, parameters and datasets from drawings and instrumentation records.
- Calibration and validation — model tuning against real measurements (estimations, recorders, PMUs) for reliable simulations.
- Assisted studies — the agent runs the classic studies (load flow, short-circuit, stability, coordination) and interprets the results.
- Controlled intellectual property — your data and models stay yours, within a secure and isolated architecture.
The Prompt Power Engineer.
We are developing an artificial intelligence assistant dedicated to power engineers. It supports every step of a study — from data collection to final review — applying recognized codes and practices of the field. Your data stays yours: no transmission to third-party services, no reuse for training purposes.
Assisted generation of studies
The agent structures the study approach from a scope of work: assumptions, modelling, methods and expected deliverables, then automatically produces narrative sections and reference tables.
Calculation review
It reviews load flow, short-circuit, stability and coordination studies line by line: verification of input data, consistency of results and traceability of assumptions.
Extraction of normative requirements
It extracts, summarizes and cross-references the requirements of current codes and guides — NEC, IEEE, IEC, Canadian standards — and translates them into actionable study criteria.
Report writing
It generates structured study reports: executive summary, methodology, results, appendices. It rewrites paragraphs, harmonizes references and prepares documents for clients and authorities.
The Prompt Power Engineer.
The building blocks above are being developed and validated progressively, within our own intellectual property framework, with the state of the art of research as a source of inspiration.
Reference tools.
Our work relies on market-leading simulation platforms and in-house toolchains developed internally for your unique cases.