The integration of variable renewable energy sources (VRES) into the Dutch transmission network is imperative for transitioning to a sustainable energy future. However, incorporating large-scale VRES poses significant monitoring and control challenges, such as fluctuating power flows and grid stability concerns. This manuscript examines the role of digital twins as modern tools for supervising and controlling power systems. This work also presents the development of a synthetic digital model of the Dutch extra-high-voltage (EHV) network to analyze steady-state performance under high VRES penetration scenarios for 2030. Using DIgSILENT PowerFactory, automated by Python scripting, this study offers insights into the impacts of VRES and electrolyzers in power networks. By creating and analyzing various future scenarios, this research evaluates the effectiveness of digital models in scenario analysis, marking a significant step toward the implementation of comprehensive digital twins for future energy system planning and optimization.

Due to the much needed energy transition as agreed under the Paris climate agreement, it is expected that large amounts of variable renewable energy supply will be connected to the Dutch Transmission Network. Future social, economic and technological developments will determine both the amount of electrification as the central or decentral nature of the future supply of electricity. By investigating different reports with scenarios for 2030 and 2050, key uncertainties for the Extra High Voltage (EHV) network can be identified. As of now, no open source model of the Dutch EHV network is available for research. In this thesis a synthetic model of the Dutch EHV network is created from only publicly available data in DIgSILENT PowerFactory. The created synthetic model can be used as a tool to investigate future steady-state power flows considering the sensitivities of the topology, component parameters and different operational scenarios. Besides this, a method is created for generation of future scenarios in Python. Using this model and method, simulations were done to gain key insights into the Steady-State security of the future Dutch EHV Transmission Network. For the case study, it is investigated what the effect of future additions of variable renewable energy sources (VRES) and selected locations of 10 GW installed capacity of electrolysers would be on the Dutch EHV transmission network for 2030.