IEEE P3416, Relay Test Sets, and the IEC 61850 View

My dear friend Andrea Bonetti (Megger), Chair of IEC TC 95 (measuring relays, protection equipment, and protection functions) and Vice Chair of IEEE P3416 (relay test set for ...), has recently published a paper on the IEEE P3416 project together with Cord Mempel (Omicron), Hong Wang (State Grid Corporation of China), Jinlei Xing (Schneider Electric), Jun Verzosa (Doble), Thierry Bardou (Schneider Electric) and Xicai Zhao (NARI Electric).

The paper is titled
IEEE P3416 as a Bridge Between IEEE/IEC Protection Testing Methodologies and Relay Test Set Capability 

It was presented at IEEE GPECOM 2026 in Naples and it is now available on IEEEXplore.

The work on IEEE P3416 is progressing, and hopefully the project can be finalized by the end of 2026.

I am not a protection engineer. For protection topics I usually refer to Andrea, who is deeply involved in IEC TC 95 work on measuring relays and protection equipment. My own interest is mainly from the IEC 61850 point of view: what does this project mean for digital substations, communication, interoperability, test systems and engineering?

From that perspective, IEEE P3416 is very interesting.

Andrea and I have conducted many seminars in Europe, Asia, Asia Pacific, ... and we are offering together a training in Karlsruhe (Germany) soon.

Protection testing is no longer only a question of injecting analogue currents and voltages into a relay and checking whether the relay trips. This is still important, of course, especially because many conventional substations and many conventional relays will remain in service for many years. But the world of protection testing is changing. In IEC 61850-based systems, the interface to the protection function may include Sampled Values, GOOSE messages, time synchronization and digital engineering information.

This is where the link to IEC TS 60255-216-1 becomes important.

IEC TS 60255-216-1 deals with protection functions using digital communication as input and output. In practical terms, this includes protection functions subscribing to Sampled Value streams instead of receiving conventional analogue inputs, subscribing to GOOSE messages such as breaker position or breaker failure signals, publishing GOOSE messages such as trip signals, and using time synchronization messages.

This is a very important step. IEC 61850 defines the communication and information exchange mechanisms. IEC 60255-216-1 applies these mechanisms to protection functions. IEEE P3416 then looks at the test sets and tools that are needed to test such protection functions in a reliable, repeatable and documented way.

For an IEC 61850 person, this is the interesting bridge.

A relay test set in the digital substation is not only a current and voltage source. It may also need to publish Sampled Values, subscribe to GOOSE, publish GOOSE, handle timing correctly, use engineering information, support test libraries, automate test sequences and generate clear reports. The test set becomes part of the digital testing environment.

This also shows why cooperation between IEC and IEEE experts is so important. Protection experts, communication experts, test-equipment experts and standardization experts must understand each other. IEC 61850 alone does not define how a protection function shall perform. IEC 60255 alone does not define the full communication system. IEEE P3416 alone does not define the protection algorithms. But together, these activities help users, manufacturers and test-equipment suppliers to build systems that can really interoperate.

Andrea often says that if experts do not interoperate, power systems will not interoperate either. This is exactly the point here ... and everywhere.

IEEE P3416 may look like a guide about relay test sets. But from the IEC 61850 point of view, it is more than that. It is part of the transition from conventional protection testing to digital protection testing. It connects test equipment with protection-function requirements, IEC 61850 communication, Sampled Values, GOOSE, time synchronization, test automation, reporting and calibration.

This is why I think IEEE P3416 is a project worth following closely — also for the IEC 61850 community.

Enjoy IEC 61850!

My Friend Andrea Bonetti Has Been Appointed As New Chair of IEC TC 95 (Protection ...)

Please note that my friend Andrea Bonetti (currently working for Megger, Sweden) has been appointed as the new chair of IEC TC 95 (Measuring relays and protection equipment).

Andrea and I have conducted many training courses on IEC 61850 ... and cooperated in consulting services related to protection, communication, IEC 61850, ...

Congratulation!

I wish Andrea the best for his future ... managing the process of how power systems are protected. It is a huge task!!

Technical Report Considering Protection IEDs with Digital Inputs and Output under way

The IEC TC 95 Ad Hoc Working Group 3 (AHG3 meeting in Nanjing this week) 

is discussing the scope of a new document with the following Scope;

This Technical Report aims at considering protection IEDs with digital inputs and output complying with IEC 61850 and IEC 61869 standards, in particular 

1. subscribing streams of digital Sampled Values (SV) representing energizing inputs of the protection function.
2. subscribing GOOSE and/or reports by the protection function (eg. cb position, cb failure).
3. publishing GOOSE messages (e.g. trip orders).
4. subscribing time synchronization information.

On this base, this document will give recommendations and guidelines concerning requirements and testing of protection IED with digital inputs and outputs within TC95.

Requirements regarding characteristics of the communication network are not within the scope of this Technical Report. Delays and jitter due to the network have to be taken into account by network engineering. Figure 1 below shows the functional chain of a protection function.  This Technical Report only considers the data received and publish by the protection IED as shown in figure below. 

More to come ...