Distribution System Protection with Communication
Technologies
Mu Wei, Zhe Chen
Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Denmark
mwe@iet.aau.dk, zch@iet.aau.dk
Abstract-Due to the communication technologies’ involvement in
the distribution power system, the time-critical protection
function may be implemented more accurately, therefore
distribution power systems’ stability, reliability and security
could be improved. This paper presents an active distribution
power system, including CHPs (Combined Heating and Power)
and small scaled WTs (Wind Turbines), as a practical example
to examine the possible impacts of communication technologies
on the power system. Under some fault scenarios, the power
system’s responses to the fault are compared between the system
with communication technologies and that without
communication technologies. At the same time, the previously
proposed study method of combining the simulations of
communication and power systems is adopted in this study. The
performance of a communication network adopted for power
system is simulated by OPNET, and then the corresponding
power system is studied by EMTDC/PSCAD. Finally the
simulation results are analyzed to draw a conclusion.
I. INTRODUCTION
Recently the modern power system is experiencing
dramatic developments and continuous changes due to the
energy challenge all over the world. Diverse of renewable
energies, like wind power, wave power, solar power, and
hydro power, etc. are rapidly evolved and involved in
contemporary power systems. The power system
consequently tends to be more and more distributed,
deregulated, and highly interconnected. Therefore the
necessity of study on the active distribution system becomes
significant.
Although the renewable energy helps relieve the global
energy crisis, its inherent inconstancy and unstableness also
present great challenges to the power system monitoring,
control and protection. Due to the renewable energy
involvement, not only the topology of the power system, but
also its management has become precedent complicated. In
such situation the traditional approach on the control and
management may not be applicable to the active distribution
power system. Thanks to the communication technologies,
the active distribution power system may find an applicable
solution to deal with the protection issues.
Applications of communication technologies cover a wide
range, from Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
(SCADA) [1, 2] system, remote measurement [3, 4], to
monitoring, control, and protection, which are critical to the
proper operation of power system and to maintain system
978-1-4244-5226-2/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE
reliability and stability, which means the advanced control
and protection is supposed to be based on fast and real time
communications. Accordingly the application of modern
communication technologies in power industry has become
incredibly important. The proper cooperation and
combination of the communication system and the power
system depend on many aspects, such as related protocols,
access technologies, and transmission media, etc. IP-based
communication network implemented in power system has
been proposed recently. Computer networks and data
communication play increasingly important roles in
distribution power systems [5], though very little work has
been done on the distribution power system communication
so far.
In this paper an Ethernet- based Local Area Network
(LAN) for distributed power system, as an example, is
investigated and simulated. Subsequently, by deploying the
LAN attribute to a distribution power system, the
performance of the distribution power system is investigated.
The sections of the paper are presented respectively as
follows.
Section II introduces the modern power system protection,
the relative logical node model according to the IEC61850,
and the corresponding communication requirements, and
explains the LAN concept applied in a power system. Then
the possible communication technologies, in Data Link Layer
according to the ISO reference model, are proposed and
compared respectively in Section Ⅲ, and Ethernet is chosen
in this paper as the Data Link Layer access technique. Then in
Section Ⅳ a case is studied by combining the Ethernet-based
IED (intelligent electronic devices) LAN with a distribution
power system. Finally in Sectii f a di10.739.9( )]TJ/TT11 1 Tf14 df3.301
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 3) Speed: Operate rapidly to minimize fault duration and
equipment damage. Any intentional time delays should be
precise.
4) Economy: Provide maximum protection at minimum cost.
5) Simplicity: Minimize protection equipment and circuitry.
Most of the faults on distribution systems are temporary in
nature. Therefore the main requirement of a protective
strategy is to deal effectively with temporary faults by
providing a means of fast fault recognition, clearing, and
reclosing of the circuit after a brief pause to allow an arcing
fault to deionize. [6]
Regarding the speed attribute of the system protection,
some requirements are established. Standard Extra High
Voltage (EHV) protective equipment is designed to clear
faults within 3 cycles, i.e. 60ms, whereas lower-voltage
protective equipment typically operates within 5-20 cycles,
i.e. 100-400ms in 50 Hz system. [7]
With the advance of power communication technology and
infrastructure, the old high-voltage power line carrier systems
are replaced by modern communication networks, such as
Ethernet and fiber LAN.
B. Communication logical node model for power system
protection
In terms of the communication in power system, IEC
61850 standards defines not only the concepts of logical
devices, logical nodes (LN) and data contained in the logical
device and nodes, which are all crucial for the description and
information exchange for power systems, but also the
communications among different logical nodes and logical
devices. The logical nodes are the smallest entities
decomposed from the application functions. Several logical
nodes build a logical device. A logical device is always
implemented in one IED (Intelligent Electric Device) [8]. As
a protection example, Fig. 1 depicts the relationships among
the application function: Protection and logical device, IED,
LN XCBR (the Logical Node XCBR represents the common
information of a real circuit breaker).
Fig. 1. The relationship between protection and Logical Node.
III. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN DISTRIBUTION
POWER SYSTEM
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Discussion the communication technologies without
addressing the application scope according to the ISO
reference model is promiscuous. Thus in this paper the
communication technologies are focused on the Second Layer
(Data Link Layer) from the point view of the Seven Layered
ISO reference model.
A. Communication technologies regarding the ISO reference
model
The ISO reference model [9] provides a framework for the
coordination of standard development and to allow existing
and evolving standards activities to be set within a common
framework. The logical structure of the ISO reference model
is made up of seven protocol layers, as shown in Fig. 2. The
function of each layer is specified formally as a protocol that
defines a set of rules and conventions used by the layer to
communicate with a similar peer layer in another system.
Fig. 2. ISO reference 7 layers model.
The upper layers are application oriented and are concerned
with the protocols associated that allow two end user
application processes to interact with each other, normally
through a range of services offered by a local operating
system.
The three lowest layers are network dependant and are
concerned with the protocols associated with a data
communication network being used to link two
communicating nodes.
The possible communication technologies of each layer are
specified in Table I. [10]
TABLE I
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ON SEVEN LAYERS OF ISO REFERENCE
MODEL
ISO Reference model Technologies
Application Layer Semantic Conversion
Presentation Layer Encryption, Compression
Authentication, Permissions, Session
Session Layer
restoration
Statistical multiplexing, Virtual circuit, Flow
Transport Layer
control, Error recovery
Connection model, Host addressing, Message
Network Layer
forwarding
Flow control, Error notification, Frame
Link Layer synchronization, Physical addressing, Collision
detection, Quality of service
Bit-by-bit or symbol-by-symbol delivery,
Physical Layer Modulation, Line coding, Multiplexing, Bit
synchronization, Circuit switching
 In this paper the second layer (Data Link Layer) is focused
to investigate the effects of LANs protocols on the power
system protection. Therefore the following Data Link Layer-
based LAN access techniques: Ethernet is elaborated.
B. LANs access technologies: Ethernet
Ethernet defines a number of wiring and signaling
standards for the Physical Layer of the ISO reference
networking model, through the means of network access at
the Media Access Control (MAC) /Data Link Layer, and a
common addressing format. Ethernet is standardized as IEEE
802.3. The combination of the twisted pair versions of
Ethernet for connecting end systems to the network, along
with the fiber optic versions for site backbones, is the most
widespread wired LAN technology. It supports all popular
network and higher-level protocols. Traditional Ethernet
supports data transfers at the rate of 10 Megabits per second
(Mbps). As the performance needs of LANs have increased,
the industry created additional Ethernet specifications for Fast
Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet.
In this paper the switched Ethernet is selected due to the
higher data transmission speed compared with the shared
Ethernet. Accordingly the communication nodes are all
connected to a switch. [9]
C. Structure of the communication network for the power
transmission system protection
A way of a communication network combined with a
power system is displayed in Fig. 3.The IED represents
Intelligent Electronics Device, who are the main components
collect data from the power system, and also deliver
commands to the power system.
Fig. 3. A structure of combining a communication network and a power
system.
IV. CASE STUDY
In order to investigate the performance of the distribution
power system involved with communication techniques, a
novel way of doing the study is introduced. The method is to
combine a communication simulation tool: OPNET, with a
power system simulation tool: EMTDC/PSCAD.
OPNET provides the industry’s leading simulator
specialized for network research and development. It allows
to design and study communication networks, devices,
protocols and applications with great flexibility. All the
components are modeled in an object-oriented approach.
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EMTDC/PSCAD is a fast, accurate, and easy-to-use power
system simulation software for the design and verification of
all types of power systems. It is the visual design tool of
choice at commercial, industrial, and research organizations
worldwide.
The studied scenario is selected as bellow.
A. Distribution power system scenario
The single line of the distribution power system scenario is
displayed in Fig. 4. It contains a 9 MW CHP and 3 wind
turbines of 600 kW. After the circuit breaker disconnecting
the grid at 6 second, the CHP works standalone. Subsequently
a three-phase-ground fault occurs at 15 second as shown in
Fig. 4. Once the fault happens, the closest (instantaneous)
relay is supposed to send trip signal to the circuit breaker and
the remote relays also pick up. However in case the
instantaneous relay does not work, then the trip signal will be
sent by the remote backup relays to clear the fault with some
delay. It happens sometimes, but it is critical, especially when
the active distribution system is disconnected with the grid,
like in this scenario, the active distribution power system may
lose the stability, the collapse therewith happens.
Fig. 4. Active distribution power system scenario.
In this case, the fault lasts for 150 ms, if the instantaneous
protection fails to operate, then the remote circuit breaks
should pick up and disconnect the fault line within a preset
time limit. The specific time arrangement for the operation of
the circuit breakers and the fault are as presented in Fig. 5.
Consequently, if the disconnection of the faulted line is
delayed according to the remote protection presetting, the
stability of the islanded distribution power system maybe in
risk. In order to avoid the instability, some protection
algorithms are developed to manage this fault protection.
Fig.5. Fault and CBs time arrangements.
Nevertheless, instead of the algorithms are developed in
this paper, the communication techniques are introduced as
an alternative solution, which is explained in the C, D and E
parts.
B. Power system simulation results with conventional protection such as load shading, it may loss load and even cause system
scheme collapse.
The distribution power system in the given scenario is
simulated by the EMTDC/PSCAD. 2
Mechanical Speed
At 6 second, the switch disconnects the grid; thereby the Electrical Torque
islanded distribution power system experiences a transition of 1.5 Mechanical Torque
seven seconds, at nearly 13 second the distribution system is
recovered and returns stable again, which is as displayed in
Fig. 6. The CHP keeps stable operation during the 1

disturbance (the fault occurs at 15 second, cleared at 15.2

[pu]
second, reclosed successfully at 15.4 second), as illustrated in 0.5
Fig. 7.

55 0

-0.5

50 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Time (s)
Fig. 8. WTs lose stability after fault.
Ws (Hz)

C. Communication network development

45 As compared with the traditional protection algorithm, in
this paper, an Ethernet LAN based communication network
exists in parallel with the islanded distribution power system
to fulfill the protection function. Thus the remote circuit
breakers are under the control of the IED Ethernet LAN. If
40
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
the instantaneous circuit breaker fails to disconnect the fault
Time (s) line, the remote circuit breakers will operate according to the
Fig. 6. Rotor speed of CHP before and after disconnecting with the grid. ETE (End –To –End) delay of the IED Ethernet LAN.
The approach to do this is to firstly configure a
56 communication network by an Ethernet LAN in the
55
secondary side of the primary power system to communicate
among different substations. The related protection IEDs are
54
connected via an Ethernet LAN. The topology of the LAN is
53 developed corresponding with the islanded distribution power
system as displayed in Fig. 9. This work is fulfilled by the
52
OPNET IT Guru, which provides a Virtual Network
Ws (Hz)

51 Environment that models the behavior of an entire network,

50
including its routers, switches, protocols, servers, and
individual applications. The applications are deployed to the
49
respective IEDs and the servers, which is illustrated by taken
48 node IED 1-1 and server 1 as an instance of Client tier and
FTP server tier in Fig.10.
47

46
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Time (s)
Fig. 7. Rotor speed of CHP after fault.

However, the WTs have undesired behavior in the scenario

described previously. This study presents a phenomenon that
if the time duration of the pick-up state is around 200ms; the
WTs lose their stability, as shown in Fig. 8, although the
islanded CHP is still stable. Therefore the traditional
protection algorithms have to involve subsequent actions,

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 Fig. 9. Hierarchical topology IED Ethernet LAN for distribution power Fig. 12. IED Ethernet LAN ETE delay for distribution power system.
system.
Some of the extracted simulation data are listed in Table II.
TABLE II
IED ETHERNET LAN ETE DELAY FOR DISTRIBUTION POWER SYSTEM
Simulation Simulation
Delay (ms) Delay (ms)
Time (hour) Time (hour)
0.24 3.691696 2.40 3.701328
0.48 3.696932 2.64 3.701676
0.72 3.693941 2.88 3.701624
0.96 3.698742 3.12 3.702851
1.2 3.697538 3.36 3.701824
Fig. 10. Application deployment of the IED LAN. 1.44 3.699555 3.60 3.702334
1.68 3.70057 3.84 3.702197
The transferred file size is determined by the IED 1.92 3.700553 4.08 3.702722
2.16 3.700554 4.32 3.703426
categories. Suppose a monitoring instrument samples three-
phase voltages and three-phase currents, and it samples 128
data points per period for each analogue input channel, and E. Power system simulation results with communication
each sampling data is represented by 2 bytes. Then there are technology based protection scheme
6*128*2=1536 bytes transmitted every 20ms, and the data By introducing the IED Ethernet LAN ETE delay attribute
transmission speed is 1536*50=76800 bytes per second [11]. to the distribution power system [12], the distribution power
In this case, the size is thereby determined as 76800 bytes as system in the given scenario is simulated by the
shown in Fig. 11. EMTDC/PSCAD. In this condition, the remote circuit
breakers operation delay, according to the ETE delay of the
IED Ethernet LAN, which has been demonstrated in Part D as
-3
about 3.707×10 s. The corresponding specific time
arrangement of the fault and CBs are presented in Fig. 13.
The islanded distribution power system simulation results
show that not only the islanded distribution power system,
but also the WTs indeed keep stable under the control of the
IED Ethernet LAN, as illustrated in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15.

Fig. 11. File size specification.

D. OPNET simulation results

One day is taken as the simulation time period, i.e. 24
hours. The ETE delay of the Ethernet LAN within the 24
hours is illustrated in Fig. 12. From the results, the average
-3
ETE delay can be recognized as 3.707×10 s.
.0 5.0

5
7

.4
.1
70

70

15
1

15
03

03

3.715
.2
15

15

3.71
Fig. 13. Fault and CBs time arrangements with Ethernet LAN.

3.705

3.7
ETE delay (ms)

3.695

3.69

3.685

3.68

3.675

3.67
0 5 10 15 20 25
Simulation Time (hour)

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 52 with IEDs’ communication and without IEDs’
communication. Finally it is illustrated that with
51 communication technologies the amount of calculation
burden of the power system is dramatically reduced, thereby
the system responses accelerated rapidly, which can better
50
meet the power system stability and reliability requirements,
though the cost of such communication system would be
Ws (Hz)

49 higher than convention communication system in power

system.
48 Further studies may focus on the applications of more
communication technologies in power system control,
protection and monitoring.
47
REFERENCES
46 [1] N. Cai, J. Wang and X. Yu，“SCADA System Security: Complexity,
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 History and New Developments，” Proc. of the 6th IEEE International
Time (s) Conference on Industrial Informatics, INDIN 2008 ， pp:569–574,
2008.
Fig. 14. Rotor speed of CHP after fault with Ethernet LAN.
[2] D. J. Marihart, “Communications technology guidelines for
EMS/SCADA systems,” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.
2 16, Issue 2, pp.181–188, April 2001.
Mechanical Speed
[3] J. Newbury and W. Miller, “Potential Metering Communication
Electrical Torque
Services Using the Public Internet,” IEEE Transactions on Power
1.5 Mechanical Torque Delivery, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 1202-1207, October 1999.
[4] S. Mak and D. Radford, “Communication System Requirements for
Implementation of Large Scale Demand Side Management and
1
Distribution Automation,” IEEE Transaction on Power Delivery, Vol.
11, No. 2, pp. 683-689, April 1996.
[5] M. Adamiak, and W. Premerlani, “The Role of Utility Communications
[pu]

0.5
in a Deregulated Environment,” Proceedings of the Hawaii‘s
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1999, pp. 1–8.
0
[6] P. M. Anderson, “Power System Protection”, McGraw-Hill, pp. 218,
1999
-0.5
[7] J. Duncan Glover and Mulukutla S. Sarma, “Power System Analysis
and Design,” Thomson Learning, pp. 438-491, 2002.
[8] IEC 61850, IEC, Geneva, Switzerland.
-1 [9] J. D. Gibson, The Communications Handbook, CRC Press, 2002.
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
[10] Access date 11th, March, 2010, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model.
Time (s)
[11] Yanqiu Bi, Jianguo Zhao, and Dahai Zhang, “Research on Power
Fig. 15. WTs are stable after fault with Ethernet LAN. Communication Network and Power quality Monitoring Using
OPNET,” Second IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and
Applications, pp. 507-511, 2007.
By comparing Fig. 8 (WTs under the condition without [12] Mu Wei, and Zhe Chen, “Communication Systems and Study Method
communication IEDs) and Fig. 15 (WTs under the condition for Active Distribution Power System”, NORDAC 2010 Conference,
with communication IEDs), the conclusion can be drawn out accepted, September, 2010.
that the WTs in the distribution power system with
communication technologies under some scenarios, can easily
keep stable operation, which outstands the impact of
communications in power system.
V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
The significance of the communication technologies is
demonstrated in the islanded distribution power system
protection by a practical case in this paper. Firstly the
Ethernet LAN based communication network is configured,
and the LAN’s ETE delay attribute is obtained by the OPNET
simulation. Secondly by deploying this attribute to the power
system, the islanded distribution power system with WTs is
simulated in the fault scenario with the instantaneous circuit
breaker fails to operate. The islanded distribution power
system’s performance is investigated and compared between

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