Another draft standard that “copies” IEC 61850 Logical Nodes

ISO/TC 205/WG 3 (Building Automation and Control System (BACS) Design) has published recently a new work proposal on power system information models [ISO/TC 205 / SC N 410].

Title: Facility Smart Grid Information Model

Purpose and justification of the proposal:
”The purpose of this standard is to define an abstract, object-oriented information model to enable appliances and control systems in homes, buildings, and industrial facilities to manage electrical loads and generation sources in response to communication with a “smart” electrical grid and to communicate information about those electrical loads to utility and other electrical service providers.

This proposed standard will define an information model intended to provide a basis for revision or creation of technology- specific communication protocol standards that enable products and services to control the operation of electrical energy generating and consuming devices found in homes, commercial buildings, institutional buildings, and in manufacturing and industrial facilities, in cooperation with energy providers in a "smart grid" environment.”

The new work item proposal states that “This proposal builds upon work done by IEC/TC 57 Power Systems Management and Associated Information Exchange … There is no known conflict with an existing IEC or ISO standard or project.”

There may be no conflict … the proposal (same as Draft standard BSR/ASHRAE 201P) “copies” Logical Nodes from IEC 61850 and modifies the Data Object names. For example:

Excerpt from Draft standard BSR/ASHRAE 201P:

5.7.3.3.1.5. DEROperationalModeControls

Operating mode at the ECP.
Control of the operational modes of the DER – constant watts, constant vars, …More than one mode can be set simultaneously for certain logical combinations (61850
Logical Node = DOPM).
Parent Class(es): CommonLN
UML element location: Model Elements from External Sources.IEC61850.61850-7-420. DEROperationalModeControls.

Table 5.193 - Class Attributes

Data Object	Description	CDC
OperationalModeConstantW	Mode of operation - constant watts.	SPC
OperationModeConstantPowerFactor	Mode of operation - constant power factor.	SPC
OperationModeConstantV	Mode of operation - constant voltage.	SPG

Excerpt from Standard IEC 61850-7-420 (LN DOPM):

Data Object	Description	CDC
OpModConW	Mode of operation – constant watts	SPC
OpModConPF	Mode of operation – constant power factor	SPC
OpModConV	Mode of operation – constant voltage	SPC

So, changing the names from abbreviated names to full text names makes it another standard information model … why? If other groups “copy” the Logical Nodes and Data Objects they should keep the names … Or?

I guess the main reason for this is:

Genesis 11:9 “Therefore, it is named Babel, because there the LORD mixed up the language of all the earth.” … languages spoken by humans and by computers!

IEC 61850 for “Facility Smart Grid Information Model”

The Draft BSR/ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201P “Facility Smart Grid Information Model” has been published for Public Review in July 2012.

The draft standard uses a good part from IEC 61850 models (IEC 61850-7-3, –7-3 and -7-420). The paper document has been derived from a UML document.

The purpose of this standard is to define an abstract, object-oriented information model to enable appliances and control systems in homes, buildings, and industrial facilities to manage electrical loads and generation sources in response to communication with a “smart” electrical grid and to communicate information about those electrical loads to utility and other electrical service providers.

The IEC 61850 community should have a look at this draft in order to make sure that the models used form IEC 61850 are referenced - the maintenance of the models in IEC TC 57 should automatically adopted by the standard 201P in the future. This would allow to get a consistent set of models.

Download the Draft BSR/ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201P “Facility Smart Grid Information Model”[pdf; 3 MB; 600+ pages]

Siemens Expects IEC 61850 as the Preferred Solution for Demand Response

According to a Siemens white paper there is a preferred solution for the information exchange in Demand Response applications: IEC 61850.

The paper states: “ … only IEC 61850 should be used for the communication between the control center and district controller [gateway between the energy automation and the building automation infrastructure] … a larger variety of legacy building automation protocols can be expected. In the long term, communication should be based on BACnet, KNX, or IEC 61850 protocol standards.”

Read the complete white paper for demand response supporting IEC 61850 [pdf]

The paper give a good overview about the various applications in power distribution systems.