At LF Energy Summit Europe 2026, Nicolas Omont of Artelys and Alice Caron and Sophie Frasnedo of RTE outlined how PowSyBl’s modular ecosystem for grid modeling, simulation, and visualization is expanding, and how governance can support cooperation as more organizations participate.
In “PowSyBl: TSO Cooperation Through Building Blocks,” the speakers walked through the project’s core modeling capabilities, simulation tools including Open Load Flow and OpenRAO, dynamic simulation through Dynawo, visualization features, and the governance practices needed as the community grows.
A modular framework built around a common grid model
PowSyBl, short for Power System Blocks, is a modular framework for grid modeling, simulation, and visualization. Its core repository handles power grid modeling through the IIDM internal data model, with importers and exporters connecting PowSyBl to external standards and formats.
Within that environment, users can modify networks, connect simulation tools through APIs, and build workflows around a common grid model. PowSyBl is primarily written in Java and also provides Python and Julia bindings.
Caron highlighted ongoing work on network modeling, including operational limits, voltage regulation, network segmentation, network reduction, and continued support for CGMES-based workflows.
Open Load Flow anchors the simulation ecosystem
Omont described Open Load Flow as the workhorse of the PowSyBl simulation ecosystem. It supports load flow, security analysis, and sensitivity analysis and can be used through Python for grid studies and operational workflows.
The roadmap includes further work on parallel computing for larger studies and changes to security analysis that can call static or dynamic simulation tools depending on the case being assessed.
That modular structure is central to the broader PowSyBl approach: users can work with simulation tools already integrated into the ecosystem or connect additional simulators through PowSyBl’s APIs.
OpenRAO and Dynawo extend the simulation stack
OpenRAO builds on Open Load Flow for remedial action optimization. Omont explained that it can evaluate grid constraints and optimize preventive and curative actions, including topology changes and other measures used to manage congestion and transfer capacity.
Omont described operational use of OpenRAO for capacity calculation, as well as use by TSOs for internal congestion management.
Dynawo extends the ecosystem into dynamic simulation. Omont said dynamic security analysis is becoming increasingly important closer to real-time operations as grid complexity grows. He pointed to the ability to integrate an open source dynamic simulation tool into operational workflows as an important part of deploying that capability.
The session also covered ongoing development of short-circuit analysis, adding another simulation capability to the PowSyBl ecosystem.
Visualization supports operational use
PowSyBl’s visualization tools provide several ways to work with network models, including single-line diagrams, network area diagrams, and geographic map views.
Caron described both generated diagrams and interactive tools that allow users to explore network information and move between different levels of detail. Several visualization repositories are already at production stage, while additional capabilities remain in incubation.
Current roadmap work includes improving visualization performance for large networks while maintaining smooth interaction as more nodes are displayed.
Governance is part of scaling cooperation
Frasnedo closed the session by focusing on what happens as PowSyBl attracts more users, contributors, and organizations.
The first requirement, Frasnedo said, is maintaining software quality through modular architecture, test coverage, code review, performance monitoring, and security work. A growing project also needs governance that can accommodate new contributors and new repositories.
PowSyBl already uses a Technical Steering Committee and committers who can merge code into protected branches. As participation grows, the community is considering how to manage new repositories, expand the committer base, and bring additional organizations into the Technical Steering Committee.
“Contributions before admission.”
Frasnedo used that phrase to describe the current approach to Technical Steering Committee participation: contribution comes before admission into project governance.
Roadmap coordination is another scaling challenge. New features are discussed through the Technical Steering Committee, including their scope, architecture, timeline, and where help is needed. As development expands across more contributors, the project also needs time for code review, mentoring, and synchronization across different development schedules.
Growing the community means improving onboarding
Frasnedo also identified documentation, tutorials, notebooks, mentoring, and onboarding as areas that need continued investment as new contributors join.
She described PowSyBl as being at an important point in its development, with new ideas, users, and contributors entering the ecosystem and the project seeking new ways to work with more people, organizations, and countries.
“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to grow a project.”
The session closed with PowSyBl seeking new ways to work with more people, organizations, and countries as the project adds new users, contributors, and ideas. Frasnedo emphasized that continued growth will require attention to software quality, governance, roadmap coordination, mentoring, documentation, and onboarding.
Session details
View the LF Energy Summit Europe 2026 schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What is PowSyBl?
PowSyBl, or Power System Blocks, is a modular open source framework for electrical grid modeling, simulation, and visualization.
Which PowSyBl building blocks did the speakers highlight?
The session covered PowSyBl’s grid modeling core, Open Load Flow, OpenRAO, Dynawo integration, short-circuit analysis, and visualization tools, along with current development roadmaps.
How does PowSyBl governance support cooperation?
The speakers described governance built around a Technical Steering Committee, committers, roadmap discussions, code review, mentoring, and contribution as the path toward deeper participation in project governance.
What challenges come with a growing PowSyBl community?
Frasnedo highlighted roadmap synchronization, scaling code review and mentoring, improving onboarding and documentation, and bringing more organizations, contributors, and countries into the ecosystem.
About PowSyBl
PowSyBl (Power System Blocks) is an open source library dedicated to electrical grid modeling, simulation, and visualization. Its modular design allows developers to extend or customize its features through plugins, and it provides APIs for power flow computation, security analysis, remedial action simulation, sensitivity analysis, time domain simulation, and other power system simulations. PowSyBl was initiated by RTE and contributed to LF Energy in 2019.
About LF Energy
LF Energy is the Linux Foundation’s neutral home to build the digital foundation for energy together. We host more than three dozen open source projects used to plan, operate, and modernize energy systems. The portfolio spans from transmission system modeling to substation virtualization, smart meter integration to EV charging. We provide the trust layer: neutral governance, legal frameworks, security practices, and community of practitioners that turn open source software, standards, and data into infrastructure the industry can depend on for decades. Members include utilities, energy companies, vendors, researchers, and technology providers, aligned to deliver affordable, reliable, safe, and clean energy. For more information, please visit lfenergy.org.
About The Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world’s infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, PyTorch, RISC-V, SPDX, OpenChain, and more. The Linux Foundation focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit linuxfoundation.org.
AI Disclosure
This post used artificial intelligence tools for research, structural assistance, or grammatical refinement. The final content was reviewed, edited, and validated by human contributors to LF Energy to ensure accuracy and alignment with our community standards. We remain committed to transparency in the use of generative technologies within the open source ecosystem.
Last updated: November 4, 2026