Utility Grid Communication Network in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure takes IEC 61850 into Account

The IEC TC 69 (Electric road vehicles and electric industrial trucks) has proposed a new project to define "Utility grid communication network in electric vehicle charging infrastructure" - 69/176/NP. The New work proposal refers to IEC 61850 as standard that should be considered as base standard. It could be assumed that IEC 61850 has already a lot of definitions that can be re-used by the experts that will define this standard. It is likely that IEC 61850-7-420 has already many information models defined for that application.

Voting is open between 2010-09-17 and 2010-12-17

Click HERE for a the official IEC announcement. Contact your national body to get a copy of the proposal.

Free One Day Workshop on IEC 61850 (IEC 61400-25) in Montreal

A free Workshop on IEC 61850 (IEC 61400-25) will be conducted in Montreal (Canada) next week:

Thursday, September 30, 2010; 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

The Workshop will take place at Hydro-Québec head office in Montreal.

The workshop will be an open presentation and discussion of crucial aspects of the standard IEC 61850 and especially of IEC 61850-7-420; a demonstration of the latest development of the “IEC61850@CHIP” and first experiences with the small platform especially for PV systems will be given.

08:30 – 09:00	Welcome, roll call of attendees, expectations
09:00 – 09.30	The standardization organizations (IEC TC 57, IEEE, IEC TC 88, …)
09:30 – 10:30	Introduction into information modeling, models, information exchange, configuration language (IEC 61850-7-x and IEC 61400-25)
10:30 – 10:50	Coffee break
10:50 – 11:30	Implementations and market penetration of IEC 61850
11:30 – 12:30	Presentation of SystemCorp’s IEC 61850 Stack PIS-10, integration of the stack on Beck IPC Chip, and demonstration of Development Kit DK61 (HW and SW) and IEC 61850 DLL running on PCs
12:30 – 13:30	Lunch (invited by H-Q)
13:30 – 15:00	Question & Answer Session
15:00	End of workshop

There are a very few seats left.

If you are interested to attend, please let me know as soon as possible (latest by Friday, 24 September 2010) - schwarz@scc-online.de

High-pressure system called “Karlheinz” brings warm temperatures

While low pressure system “Joleen” has been pushing cool, wet weather into the country from Scandinavia, a high-pressure system called “Karlheinz” is moving up from the south with warmer temperatures. “That means for the next few days there will be dry and especially warm weather during the day in central Europe, which naturally means us too,” Temperatures could reach up to 25 degrees Celsius in the Upper Rhine region (like in Karlsruhe - the home town of Karlheinz Schwarz, Expert on IEC 61850).

Karlheinz (Schwarz) brings good weather and good news on IEC 61850 to you ;-)

Click HERE for the full weather report.

Update on IEC 61850 Hands-on Training with Multivendor IEDs in Stockholm, 2-5 November 2010

STRI and NettedAutomation offer a 4-day comprehensive Seminar and Hands-on Training providing both theory and practice on the application of IEC 61850 in a substation (and IEC 61400-25 in wind power plants) by following the planning, specification, design and engineering process. Based on real applications and multivendor test installation we follow the engineering process all the way through configuration and testing. The 4 day Comprehensive System Integration Course to be held in Stockholm (Sweden) on 2-5th of November 2010 consists of:

• Module 1 gives an independent and detailed presentation of the IEC 61850 standard and demonstration of STRI multivendor interoperability training and test system.
• Module 2 presents the Substation Configuration Language and use of a vendor independent tool, to demonstrate specification of IEC 61850 systems.
• Module 3 presents possible functional allocations and architectures for typical substation automation systems. How should one apply IEC 61850 reporting and GOOSE messaging for protection and control schemes? How to configure Ethernet Networks and test IEC 61850 systems?
• Module 4 is divided in two parallel workshops. Module 4a – covers engineering of a small interoperable IEC 61850 system with protection and control devices from ABB, Areva and Siemens. Module 4b focuses instead on SCADA and gateway engineering.

Just a few seats left - check for availability soon.

Click HERE for the updated Program and Registration information.

The Best Corporate Brochure on IEC 61850 ever seen

ABB has published the other day the Best Brochure on IEC 61850 I have ever seen! The 60+ page Corporate Technical Journal presents the strategy, vision, and experience of ABB. The Brochure contains the following topics:

• IEC 61850: The new approach
• Products for the standard
• Verification and validation
• Case studies of IEC 61850

This Journal is absolutely worth to read!

Click HERE to download the Journal [pdf, 2.9 MB].

Interoperability and Replacement of an IED by another one

The other day somebody from the user community posted a comment on this blog. The issue discussed is on Interoperability and Replacement of an IEC 61850 compliant IED by another one:

"That is exactly what we users want: not just be able to have different IEDs from (possibly) different vendors cooperating in our substations, but also be able to replace an IED by another one that is functionally equivalent (or superior, or maybe just similar, this being the utilty’s internal issue) regardless of what the other system components are, and in the easiest possible way."

First of all, the Replacement of an IEC 61850 compliant IED mainly depends on the implementation of the standard (which subsets, ..., restrictions) and on the configuration of the system.

Replacement could be very easy but also be a bit complicated. One example shows the impact of the implementation (restriction) and one shows the impact of the configuration.

Restricted implementation: Suppose that an IED A (to be replaced) has 10 Logical Devices to model the application. IED B (to replace IED A) has only the possibility to support five (5) Logical Devices; the restriction is done during the design of the IED.

The system engineer has configured the IEDs and the information flow between them, e.g., the flow from IED A to other IEDs. The designed information flow between IED A and other IEDs is like a Contract. This contract says that IED A has 10 LDs and underlying LNs and DataObjects. The LD name are used to designate the DataObjects; the LN-Reference contains the LD-Name. A DataSet could have members from all 10 LDs (this could be "written" in the contract).

If the IED B has only five (5) LDs then the designation of the DataObjects will likely be different - it requires a modified Contract! The Clients (Subscriber) have to take these changes of the designation into account. This may require a re-configuration of the Clients (Subscriber).

Click HERE for a PIXIT document providing some information about an IED, e.g. restriction of GOOSE messages that can be sent (<= 16) ...

Don' forget: Everything is limited!!

Configuration of the system: Even if IED A and IED B have the same signal designations (same model) it could be that the "old contract" defines a flow as follows: the information to be reported or goosed is defined in a very big DataSet (e.g, of 100+ members). IED B may only support DataSets with a maximum of 50 members. As a consequence the "contract" has to be modified to create two (or more) DataSets and two or more ControlBlocks. The Clients (Subscriber) have to take this into account.

The "easiest possible way" means to apply the same "contract" (flow configuration) for IED A and IED B. If IEDs would be quite flexible with regard to the "contracts" then a replacement would be quite easy.

By the way, the question, which "contract" we could write depends on the vendors' implementations and the way how people configure systems, BUT not on the standard!

The utility requirement could be modified as follows: "to replace an IED by another one that is functionally equivalent (or superior, or maybe just similar, this being the utilty’s internal issue) AND that uses the same "Contract" of the information flow between the two IEDs, regardless of what the other system components are."

ABB's Entry Points for IEC 61850 related Information

ABB has posted a huge source of information about IEC 61850 and applications in Substations all over. It's a nice starting point to see what they are doing with regard to IEC 61850.

Click HERE or HERE for two ABB web pages with many good explanations and links to useful papers and other documents.

GOOSER - Prüfungen von Anlagen mit GOOSE-Nachrichten

Ein echtes universelles IEC 61850-Prüf-Interface ist verfügbar. Der Gooser von Megger verbindet konventionelle Relais-Prüfgeräte mit IEC 61850 basierten Systemen. Der "Gooser" wird also eine echte Alternative zu aufwendigen, neuen Schutz-Prüfsysteme mit integrierter IEC-61850-Schnittstelle gesehen.

Click HIER zum Download einer aktuellen Veröffentlichung über den GOOSER in der np.

FREE IEC 61850/61400-25 DLL - One Download per Hour

The FREE IEC 61850/61400-25 Evaluation/Starter Kit is now available for download since August 31, 2010. The kit provides a DLL for simple IEC 61850 Client, Server, Publisher, and Subscriber Applications running on a PC under Windows.

In average one kit has been downloaded per hour since then! This DLL and its API seems to be one of the crucial Highlights of Standardized Information Models, Information Exchange Methods, and Configuration Language! It brings you the Best after the holiday season (in many countries in the northern hemisphere - or before in the southern).

You simply can't get it for less - Its's FREE.

DO NOT Click HERE if you want to keep going with your legacy solution.

Phoenix Contact is Hiring a Software Developer with IEC 61850 Experience

Phoenix Contact is hiring a Software Developer for Embedded Systems with IEC 61850 experience!
Good Luck!

Click HERE for the job offering [German].

Automation goes Power: Phoenix Contact starts Road Show "Energy Management"

Electric Power systems are on the radar screen of companies that - traditionally - did their business in the factories. One of the well known German companies is Phoenix Contact. What are these companies looking for? More revenue? Very likely.

During the last 20 years there was very little automation in the power industry influenced by factory automation vendors and their solutions. This will change in a fast pace: One of the leading experts (Roland Bent, CEO of Phoenix Contact) stated during the VDI Congress that the market for automation systems in the utility domain (electric power, water, ..., clean and green technologies) will be three times bigger in 2030 than today's factory automation. Wow.

Click HERE for some more details ... what they are looking for ...

Click HERE to read the announcement for an Energy Management Road Show [German].

Substation Automation Handbook

The electrical Grid is about to be transformed into a Smart(er) Grid. The most crucial aspect is still (and I hope for ever) the electrical system - a system of generators, wires, transformers, switches, etc bound together by some laws. Substations are important elements in the system. For all people that need to understand the challenge of the automation of electrical systems should read the

The Substation Automation Handbook written by Dr. Klaus-Peter Brand, Volker Lohmann, Dr. Wolfgang Wimmer

This book is a comprehensive description of Substation Automation and the coordination with Network Operation to obtain both performance and cost benefits by enabling enhanced Power System Management ... including the new standard IEC 61850.

Over the past decade the electricity supply industry has been subjected to dramatic changes. World-wide the trend is to restructure vertically integrated utilities catering for generation, transmission and distributions into smaller "unbundled" companies. The new plant owners are pushed to minimize costs through greater utilization of assets. The book helps to understand the needed solutions to get there.

Click HERE to read more about the book and how to order it.

IEC61850@CHIP - Forum for API usage open

Beck IPC has opened a Forum for the IEC 61850 Stack API. What to do if the client does not start? What if ...?

Click HERE to proceed to the IEC 61850 Forum at the website of Beck IPC

Special Course on Key Standards for Smart Grids in Dallas (TX): IEC 61850, IEC 61400-25 and DNP3

A two-day special seminar and training on IEC 61850, IEC 61400-25 and DNP3 will be conducted by Karlheinz Schwarz (Editor of IEC 61850, IEC 61400-25, member of NIST PAP16, ...) at:

Remote 2010 Conference & Expo
October 19-20, 2010 - Dallas, Texas

In this comprehensive 2-day workshop students learn the fundamental concepts and vision of the NIST Smart Grid activities and of the IEC 61850 standard series. Students compare well known solutions like DNP3 and the new OPC UA with IEC 61850 (IEC 61400-25, Wind Turbines) and discuss the strength each method offers. All the IEC 61850 standards, their extensions, and many application domains are briefly discussed and the class delves into IEC 61850 real-time and client/server solutions. Each student (that brings his own PC) will do some hands-on training with IEC 61850 client/server communication and GOOSE messaging. We are using freely available evaluation software running under Windows. Two PCs could be connected to see messages on the Ethernet wire.

Click HERE for more details and registration information.

Redundant Ethernet for Communication in Substation Automation Systems according to IEC 61850

The High-availability Seamless Redundancy protocol (HSR) was designed to meet the highest availability requirements of industrial applications (such as substation automation or motion control) with an Ethernet based communication infrastructure. IEC 61850-90-4 "Network Engineering Guidelines" recommends to use HSR for particular applications.

In the context of the project supported by the Swiss innovation promotion agency CTI, ZHAW is evaluating the feasibility of HSR. Project partners are ABB, Hirschmann, and Siemens. These companies have demonstrated the new solution during the recent Cigré Exhibition in Paris (end of August 2010).

Click HERE for a report in English.
Click HERE for a report in German.

NIST Smart Grid - Cyber Security Guidelines Released

The three volumes of the "Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security (NISTIR 7628)" have been published by NIST end of August 2010.

The report presents an analytical framework that organizations can use to develop effective cyber security strategies tailored to their particular combinations of Smart Grid-related characteristics, risks, and vulnerabilities. Organizations in the diverse community of Smart Grid stakeholders—from utilities to providers of energy management services to manufacturers of electric vehicles and charging stations—can use the methods and supporting information presented in this report as guidance for assessing risk and identifying and applying appropriate security requirements.

This document is a companion document to the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 1.0 (NIST SP 1108), which NIST issued on January 19, 2010.

Click HERE to download Volume 1
Click HERE to download Volume 2
Click HERE to download Volume 3
Click HERE to download the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, R1.0

Does IEC 61850 provide Security Measures? - Yes

IEC 61850 Tissue Database for Edition 2

The first four (4) parts of IEC 61850 have been published as Edition 2: Part 6, Part 7-4, Part 7-3, and Part 7-2.

The Tissue Database (technical issues) is now open for posting tissues on these four new parts (Edition 2):

www.tissue.iec61850.com

The first tissues have already been posted for Edition 2 documents. If you have any tissue to be reported to the editors of the standards please check with the tissue database - maybe your issue has already been posted.

The Tissue Database for IEC 61400-25 is also open:

www.tissue.iec61400-25.com

Click HERE for some general remarks on Edition 1 and Edition 2.

Update: NIST SGIP - Special Cross-PAP Session on Information Models for Generators and Storage

Please find the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the special group in St. Louis (MS):

Special Cross-PAP Session:
Coordinated Object Modeling for Generators and Storage
SGIP Fall Meeting
September 15, 2010, St. Louis, Missouri
12:30 to 3:00 PM

This Cross-PAP issues session is your chance to participate in discussions on coordinating consistent object models and information exchange requirements for different generator types (e.g., wind turbines, hydro power plants, PV systems, and storage) across multiple domains (consumer, distribution, and transmission). This session is expected to aid in producing consistent object model requirements (where possible) being developed for example by PAPs 7 and 16 for IEC 61850-7-420 (DER), IEC 61850-7-410 (hydro) and IEC 61400-25 (wind). The consistent generator control, monitoring and protection requirements are to be coordinated and combined with requirements of other PAPs including 3, 4, 9, and 10. There are several areas in which the various application domains highly benefit from consistent information models, consistent information exchange and security steps. The interface between power generation and the control center and between aggregators and distributed generators are obvious examples. This session is intended to provide overviews of and to initiate coordination of activities required to develop consistent object models for different generator/storage types across different Smart Grid domains.

Topics presented and discussed include:

• Status of object models for wind turbines, hydro power plants, PV systems, other distributed energy resources – (Karlheinz Schwarz, editor of IEC 61850 and IEC 61400-25) – 30 minutes
• IEC 61400-25-2 transmission level wind generator standard with first two logical nodes that define active power control and reactive power control (Bill Moncrief) – 20 minutes
• Key ES-DER Use Cases - The necessity of establishing a set of core functions as a foundation for standard protocols and device interoperability. Results from a collaborative industry activity. (Brian Seal) – 20 minutes
• IEC 61850-7-420 for ES-DER functions, focusing on pricing signals, volt/var schedules, direct control, and broadcast control, as well as cyber security (Frances Cleveland, editor of IEC 61850-7-420 and IEC 62351) – 20 minutes
• Common modeling concepts, key services like "report-by-exception" and configuration language – Mapping of 61850 to Webservices (IEC 61400-25-4), to DNP3 and to SEP 2.0 (Frances) – 30 min
• IEC 61850-on-a-chip (Karlheinz Schwarz) – 15 minutes

Related standards and PAPs:

• IEC 61850-7-420, IEC 61400-25, IEC 62351
• IEEE P 1547.8, IEEE P174
• DNP3, SEP 2.0, MultiSpeak, CIM
• PAPs: Developed by 7 and 16; used by 3, 4, 9, 10, 8 and 14