This paper designs and implements a virtual simulation experiment platform for integrated community energy systems (ICES) to address educational challenges in teaching complex multienergy interactions during China’s ongoing energy transition. Targeting the interdisciplinary nature of ICES and limitations of existing simulation tools, the platform integrates 3D visualization with four experimental modules using an actual industrial park as a case study to ensure practical relevance and realism.

The technical foundation comprises three computational models: electrical networks modeled through AC power flow equations with nodal power balance constraints; thermal networks combining hydraulic models using mass balance and loop pressure equations with thermal models employing node heat power equations and temperature propagation relationships; and energy stations structured through a unified energy bus model incorporating energy conversion efficiency matrices and distribution coefficients to resolve multipath energy flows. The four experimental modules include planning configuration, where students select equipment types and capacities against seasonal cooling and heating load profiles with real-time technical–economic evaluation; multienergy flow calculation to enable dynamic analysis of electricity–heat–cold interactions through adjustable distribution coefficients; optimization scheduling for solving day-ahead economic dispatch problems that minimize energy procurement costs while respecting network constraints and operational limits; and fault operation to simulate equipment failures requiring manual restoration through backup activation.

Validated using operational data from a real industrial park energy system featuring 823.2 kW photovoltaic generation, ground-source heat pumps, solar thermal collectors, ice storage systems, electric boilers, chillers, and battery storage, the platform effectively accommodates cooling and heating operational scenarios. Students can actively explore energy conversion principles, system configuration, optimization techniques, and failure response mechanisms through coordinated operational strategies, such as off-peak ice storage use and priority dispatching of high-efficiency devices. The platform’s implementation at Tianjin University provides electrical engineering and energy majors with practical training in designing, analyzing, and operating integrated energy infrastructures. It transforms abstract theoretical concepts into tangible, experiential learning that bridges academic knowledge and practical engineering applications essential for sustainable energy transitions while overcoming physical laboratory limitations associated with such complex systems. The platform demonstrates full renewable energy use capabilities and effective multienergy coupling management through its comprehensive simulation environment. This educational tool substantially enhances comprehension of ICES dynamics by enabling hands-on experimentation with system planning, real-time optimization, and fault recovery processes across electro-thermal networks.

By providing a safe, scalable and realistic environment for investigating integrated energy infrastructures, the platform successfully cultivates the critical thinking and operational competencies necessary for next-generation energy engineers. Its application extends beyond academic settings to professional training programs for industry practitioners engaged in renewable energy integration and multienergy system management. The platform’s effectiveness in demonstrating coordinated electrical and thermal scheduling provides valuable insights for actual ICES operations while fulfilling core educational objectives in the vital field of sustainable energy. The modular architecture supports continuous expansion of simulation scenarios and device libraries, ensuring adaptability to diverse teaching requirements in higher education institutions. Future developments will incorporate emerging energy vectors and carbon constraint considerations to maintain pedagogical relevance amid evolving energy landscapes.

Integrated renewable energy with energy storage is a crucial measure to reduce the impact of renewable energy disturbances on the power grid and promote effective energy utilization. Virtual synchronous technology can effectively improve the dynamic performance of integrated renewable energy and energy storage systems by simulating the operating characteristics of traditional synchronous generators. However, the traditional virtual synchronous generator (VSG) controller faces issues of active power oscillation and dynamic stability. To overcome these issues, this paper proposes a strategy for suppressing active power dynamic oscillation in VSG grid connection based on active power feedforward and frequency compensation, which is able to ensure that the output power of VSG can exhibit good dynamic response performance when the power reference changes while also achieving effective decoupling of primary frequency modulation and damping response, thereby eliminating steady-state errors.

This paper eliminates the coupling between the primary frequency modulation characteristics and virtual damping control by setting the virtual damping D=0 and introduces an active power feedforward link to address the stability issues that may arise from damping loss. Then, to further increase the damping ratio of the system and improve its stability and robustness, a frequency compensation component is added to further improve the dynamic response speed and reduce the steady-state errors. By analyzing the zero pole distribution diagram of the system with changes in the control parameters, the performance of power oscillation suppression can be evaluated, and the optimal parameters can be ultimately determined.

A hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform based on RT-LAB is built in this paper to test the effectiveness of the proposed method and conduct relevant teaching experiments, including a real-time simulator, I/O interface, and grid-connected controller. Compared with the traditional VSG method, the active power feedforward compensation-based VSG (APFC-VSG) control method and proposed active feedforward and frequency compensation-based VSG (AFFC-VSG) control method exhibit fast dynamic response speeds and improvements in peak values in the cases of power reference changes and frequency disturbances. The proposed AFFC-VSG control method performs better in frequency response than the APFC-VSG control method, with a minimum power change rate and overshoot, which helps reduce the risk of excessive output frequency and peak values during oscillation.

This paper focuses on the oscillation problem of the traditional VSG method under changes in the active power reference and grid frequency disturbance and proposes a novel VSG control strategy based on active power feedforward and frequency compensation. A hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform based on RT-LAB is built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The comparison results of the simulation experiment show that the AFFC-VSG control strategy can considerably reduce the dynamic oscillation under disturbance and further suppress the frequency overshoot problems of the traditional VSG method through frequency compensation. This experiment is designed through a complete teaching process of theoretical learning, experimental design, and result analysis, which can enable students to further study the relevant theories of control technologies for integrated renewable energy and energy storage systems. Moreover, it can enhance students’ engineering practice ability and innovative thinking in practical operations and lay the foundation for conducting relevant theoretical research.