The integration of renewable energy generation units, the electrification of the private and public transport sector and the coupling of the electricity, gas and heat sectors confront operators of electric distribution grids with new challenges. In order to adequately address these challenges and incorporate new, innovative grid resources cost-effectively into grid planning, the agent-based simulation environment SIMONA has been developed at ie3.

For the first time, SIMONA enables detailed modelling of grid system participants, taking into account their respective interdependencies. This includes the modelling of technical grid equipment, regulation, monitoring and control algorithms (e.g. Q(U) regulation or BDEW traffic light model) as well as the load behaviour of private households or charging points for electric vehicles. SIMONA is not limited to simulation of a single voltage level, but also allows an integrated simulation of the grid across different voltage levels.

In addition to pure simulation, SIMONA also offers the option of incorporating measured values from real plants into the simulation in real time. Thanks to the modular design of the simulation environment, efficient and individually tailored calculations can be carried out in response to specific issues. Furthermore, the modularity of the simulation environment ensures that it can be easily extended in the future and can also serve as a "testbed" for new, innovative operating resources or grid operation concepts.

The time series generated by SIMONA offer the possibility of deriving new assumptions for the electricity grid planning process as well as efficient demand- and future-oriented grid expansion planning.