Software History

IPSA

IPSA (Interactive Power System Analsysis) started life as a Ph.D. project at UMIST (now Manchester University) in 1974. It was the first power system analysis software to have a graphical user interface. By 1975 the first version was up and running on an IBM mainframe at MANWEB, and in 1978 work began on the transient stability analysis features. The first commercially available version of the program, IPSA 80, went on sale two years later.

By 1984 IPSA contained load flow, fault level and transient stability modules, and a database for common plant data. Over the next couple of years the first version of the graphical user-defined modelling tools were added along with many operating enhancements such as colour output and postscript printing. In 1986 the program was ported to UNIX workstations.

At this time work began on modelling DC power system components, protection and co-ordination, and harmonics. The first version containing AC and DC modelling was released in 1989, and harmonics and protection were added in 1992. Further minor enhancements to the program were made over the next 10 years.

During the 80's and 90's IPSA was widely adopted by Network Operators, the UK defence and the oil and gas industrioes. These companies played a pivotal role in developing and commericalising IPSA.

The last versions of old-style IPSA - versions 21 and 22 - were implemented on Microsoft Windows platforns in  2001 and were actively supported until 2006.

IPSA+ 1

IPSA+ was conceived as a re-write of the IPSA program, focusing on bring the user interface up to date while cleaning and extending the analysis code, some of which was over 20 years old. Work on IPSA+ began in 2002. The first version was released in 2003 and contained the load flow and fault level analysis modules. The transient stability and harmonics modules were added in 2004, and the user-defined modelling package was released in 2005.

In 2006 the overcurrent protection module was added, and in 2008 the IEC 60909 fault level module was added, together with enhancements to the load flow, fault level, transient stability and harmonic modules.

IPSA+ 2

The development of IPSA 2 started in 2008 in order to take advantage of the latest graphics capabilities of modern PCs. Currently scheduled for release in Q3 2010 this new version will provide a complete make-over of the User Interface with animation and 3D capabilities.