The present invention relates generally to electrical power distribution, for example, in aircraft. More particularly, according to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a power supply system for power distribution to one or more loads in a safety-critical power supply network. The power supply system comprises at least one power source, a power bus and a distributed control system. The distributed control system comprises a central controller operably coupled to at least one bus module through a data bus. Bus modules include bus controllers that are operable to connect respective power sources to the power bus.