Hands-On

IEC 61850 is the

world standard
Energy companies desire an open and
future-proof standard
The energy companies substations and operations centers must communicate with each other
about switch positions, values of current, voltage, power and direction, interlocking, trips and
about maintenance.

John Jansen van der Sligte ous working groups of the IEC models on new communication nalities to the devices that form
TC57 that have defined the stan- stacks. the substation automation
Until today every supplier of dard. P Flexible design: The new stan- system. Both centralized and
systems and components has had This new standard is designed dard grants users the flexibility to decentralized solutions are sup-
his own approach, functionalities to fulfill the following require- freely allocate the various functio- ported.
and protocol. This mix of various ments:
systems has caused extension or
modification of substations to be P Interopera-
very complex, expensive or even bility: Intelli-
impossible. Therefore, energy com- gent Electronic
panies (utilities) desire an open Devices (IEDs)
and future-proof standard. Utili- of various
ties, suppliers and consultants manufacturers
have worked intensively during are able to
the past several years and the exchange and
global substation automation use the infor-
standard is now ready: the IEC mation for
61850 standard. their own func-
The IEC 61850 is more than tions.
just a new standard for communi- P Future
cation within substations. It also proof: The
introduces data models for all basis for the
major substation components and standard is the
defines services to enable map- data models
ping on mainstream communica- that relate to
tion stacks. Manufacturers have the basic func-
released the first commercial tionality of the
products with IEC 61850 imple- substation,
mentations in 2004. KEMA has which changes
played an active role in the vari- less rapidly
than communi-
cation or auto-
mation techno-
Ing. John Jansen logy. IEC
van der Sligte is 61850 is able
Consultant
Substation Auto-
to follow new
mation & KEMA developments
Projectmanager in data com-
IEC 61850 at
munication by
KEMA Nederland
B.V., Arnhem/Netherlands easily mapping
www.kema.com the data The IEC 61850 is more than just a new standard for communication within substations

00 PRAXIS Profiline AdvancedTCA Juli 2005


Nothing works with-
out energy
Energy supply is one of the
most important sectors in
modern society. Nothing works
without energy. The lighting
system, computers, security
systems, all of them need an
uninterrupted energy supply.
As players in this energy chain
energy generation, trade and
distribution or government
that is mere childs play for
you.
But also if you are the
operator of an industrial plant
Integrated system
When a complete set of IEC
61850 products is available, the
new standard will result in an
integrated system of all the sub-
station equipment. This integrated
system would include instrument
transformers, protective relays,
control systems but also HV-
switchgear that is controlled and
supervised using the IEC 61850
process and station bus. Measure-
ments from the instrument trans-
formers as well as trip commands
from the protection relays will uti-
lize the communication network.
Because of this integration,
specification, implementation,
testing and maintenance of an
IEC 61850-based system can no
longer be handled by communica-
tion specialists only. It will require
coordination between the various
disciplines and knowledge areas:
communication technology,
protocol testing, protections and
protection systems, protection
relays functional testing, instru-
ment transformers, substation
control & automation, HV-
switchgear (testing) SCADA/EMS
and distribution automation. The
question is not if we are going to
use IEC 61850 in a way the user
will get the benefits, but rather
when and how.
Hands-On
Our company profile
with its own supply network,
you know that every minute of
standstill is one too many.
Energy supply is also a special-
ty of KEMA. For more than 75
years and operating from
over 50 offices in 20 countries
KEMA has supplied solutions
for the energy market: high-
quality business and technical
consultancy and inspection, The....
testing and certification of low ...anywhere in the world.
through to high voltage.
Well-founded advice
KEMA has thorough knowl-
edge and experience in the design
and specification of a substation
based on conventional technology
and IEC 61850. We offer all tech-
nical consultancy, project execu-
tion support and test services for
projects dealing with this stan-
dard, including:
P Workshops, e.g. in the orienta-
tion phase
P Training;
P Feasibility studies;
P Conceptual and preliminary
design;
P Migration strategies;
P Specification of equipment;
P Type testing of protective devi-
ces;
P Conformance and interopera-
bility testing;
P Test tools
P Project execution support;
P Quality assurance
Up until now, KEMA has sup-
ported over 40 companies with
the introduction and implementa-
tion of the IEC 61850 standard.
We look forward to assisting you
in the process of implementing
IEC 61850 as a one stop-shop-
ping partner who knows all about
the electricity industry.
PRAXIS Profiline AdvancedTCA Juli 2005 00