Interoperability Assessment of IEC 61850 Devices in a Multivendor Digital Substation

 Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) presented a great paper at the IEEE GPECOM, June 2024, in Budapest:

Interoperability Assessment of IEC 61850 Devices in a Multivendor Digital Substation

"The present paper investigates interoperability challenges in multivendor digital substations, focusing on vertical data exchange reliability and Precision Time Protocol synchronization amidst various implementations of the IEC 61850 standard. The state of the art is examined through an Interoperability Testing Framework that assesses communication issues and data exchange across different equipment. Utilizing a two-phase bottom-up and top-down approach within this framework yields an efficient system deployment, focusing on synchronization, data exchange reliability, and addressing variations in IEC 61850 implementations, alongside a systematic literature survey. Results indicate that the proposed top-down engineering process can mitigate interoperability issues, promising streamlined future deployments."

Click HERE for more information ...

Whitepaper: OCPP and IEC 61850 - A Winning Team

DNV published a nice whitepaper on the use of IEC 61850 in conjunction with OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol):

Excerpt:

"EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the coming years, utilities will see more and more electric vehicles connecting to their electricity grid. Cars, busses, vans, trucks, ships and airplanes will charge their batteries drawing energy from the grid. In some cases, these vehicles will also discharge their batteries and feed energy back into the grid, effectively becoming a Distributed Energy Resource (DER). It means that utilities will work together with new customers, systems and use cases. To integrate DERs safely into the grid, information exchange and control is needed. The IEC 61850 protocol for electricity grid control and OCPP for charging infrastructure control combine to ensure that the charging and discharging of vehicles takes place whilst ensuring grid stability and meeting the customers' needs and expectations.

Even though both protocols were developed by different industry groups in different periods of time, the combination of these two protocols can fulfil all requirements that utilities might have to control electric vehicles acting as DERs. The paper list use cases that a utility might use to control a DER, and shows for each use case which IEC 61850 settings to use and how these settings will be transferred to the charging station via OCPP.

This paper aims to help the industry better understand both protocols and help with the implementation of the combination of IEC 61850 and OCPP in charging station management systems."

Click HERE for the whitepaper (59 pages, PDF, 1.7 MB)