IEC 61850 Has Come A Long Way Since February 1995 - 30 Years

The development of an IEC Standard on "Substation Control and Protection Interfaces" (which is now IEC 61850) was discussed during the IEC TC 57 meeting in Sydney (November 1993). The Ad-hoc group „Substation Control and Protection Interfaces“ (led by Dr. Reiner Speh, Germany) was tasked to come up with a proposal. The result was published as:

IEC 57/214/INF Report of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Substation Control and Protection Interfaces, February 1995

This report covers the work of the Ad-Hoc Working Group from March 1994 to April 1995. The group was formed in November 1993 and consisted of 24 members from 12 countries. Four meetings where held in the time period and the results of the work provided the bases for forming Working groups 10, 11, and 12. 

Sources: TR 61850-1 (2003) and etz-Report 34  (Offene Kommunikation nach IEC 61850)

Three new work proposals (NP) have been proposed in February 1995 (57/210, 57/211, and 57/212). The acceptance of these NPs led to the new TC 57 working groups WG 10, WG 11, and WG 12 ...

The IEC 61850 standardization started 30 years ago - congratulation! I am involved since the very beginning in 1995!

What happend in the global market? A lot of discussions, complaints, ideas, benefits, success stories, ... ignorance, ... misinterpretations, disconnects, ... until today.

BUT wait: I guess the series IEC 61850 is accepted, planned and decided to be used, or already in use in many applications globally. It is interesting to check this blog what I have reported many years ago:

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 / Siemens sold more than 1000 plants with IEC 61850
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / IEC 61850 Devices installed worldwide by Siemens: 300.000 (the incorporated links to Siemens websites are not working anymore)

There is no need in the year 2025 to count the number of IEDs or systems that implement IEC 61850 ... I just came about an interesting video published by CONDIS Group (Webinar on IEC 61850 Standardisation) the other day. Additional information ... on how many substations at Tennet (TSO in the Netherlands) will be refurbished with IEC 61850 ...

One reason why this all happens is here: my personal involvement ... and training all over ... as you may know: I am one of the great grandfathers of the standard series IEC 61850 and IEC 61400-25. 

By the way, I am a great grandfather in the real life as well! ... and a gray hair engineer ...

Any question?

Siemens SIPROTEC 5 Relays With Various CPU Variants Have Security Issues

Please note the following information made public by US-Cert_CISA ... in case you use SIPROTEC 5 Relays:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CVSS v3 9.8

ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely/low attack complexity

Vendor: Siemens

Equipment: SIPROTEC 5 relays

Vulnerabilities: Classic Buffer Overflow

Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to cause a denial-of-service condition or trigger a remote code execution.

Click HERE for the complete just updated report.

LIMA/PERU: PROTECCIÓN, CONTROL Y AUTOMATIZACIÓN CON LA NORMA IEC-61850

NAKAMA SOLUCIONES S.A.C., FMTP, and NettedAutomation conduct a 5 days course on

PROTECCIÓN, CONTROL Y AUTOMATIZACIÓN CON LA NORMA IEC-61850

in Lima (Peru), NM Lima Hotel, Av. Pardo y Aliaga N° 330, San Isidro 15073

Del 13 al 17 de Noviembre del 2017
Horario: De 09:00 a 17:00 horas

Click HERE for general information.
Click HERE for the full program.

How to get Interoperability and Interchangeability with IEC 61850?

The standardization process in the context of IEC 61850 is picking up quite fast. As you have learned in the posts of today and older ones, there are several new topics on the list of items to work on for future new parts of IEC 61850.
One of the crucial objectives is the interoperability and INTERCHANGEABILITY of devices from different vendors in a multi-vendor system.
To reach this goal, we need standards! Sure. But what is absolutely required is the EDUCATION of experts from Vendors, Utilities and System integrators.
We offer the right courses for you: With focus on protection, automation and SCADA.In English and German.
Due to the request from power engineers FMTP and NettedAutomation have scheduled several dates for public training courses in 2017:
The next courses are:

19-23 September 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden [EN]
10-13 Oktober 2016 in Karlsruhe, Germany [EN]
07-09 Dezember 2016 in Karlsruhe, Germany [DE]

Click HERE for more details.

Hurry to reserve your seat!

You would get more than in any other course - because two of most experienced experts (Andrea Bonetti and Karlheinz Schwarz) will guide you through the most crucial aspects of IEC 61850. The combined experience of the two is unparalleled.

IEC 61850 Applications Outside Power Utilities

IEC 61850 is often applied in non-utility application domains. Three examples are documented in the following papers:

1. Refinary in North America
"Integrating SCADA, Load Shedding, and High-Speed Controls on an Ethernet Network at a North American Refinery"
This paper discusses the implementation of an Ethernet communications network in a ring that connects substations in a closed communications loop at a large industrial facility. Data are transmitted at protection speeds and must be dependable for industrial power system operation and maintenance applications. The redundant electric power system Ethernet communications network is used for a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system that automates industrial electric power system operations.
Click HERE for the complete paper [pdf]

2. Petrochemical Plant
"SACE Emax 2 -- IEC 61850 integration with MV systems"
PVC plant in Jemeppe needed to upgrade the LV side of the electrical plant, so that it could be fully integrated into IEC 61850 protocol used in MV switchboards. Not only customer needed to monitor status and parameters from air circuit breakers installed in the LV switchboards, but also to control them remotely and to interlock them with MV ones.
Jemeppe plant was aiming at a higher system productivity, by avoiding protocol converters, and an increase of safety for technicians thanks to remote control for air circuit breakers.
Click HERE for the complete paper [pdf]

3. Siemens helps Solvay
Solvay Group: International Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company
Solvay uses IEC 61850 for the Operation of high, medium and low voltage systems.
Worldwide systems in use with IEC 61850 up to the network control level, others being planned
Click HERE for more information [pdf]

IEC 61859 Training Course in Stockholm is Filling-Up - Reserve your Seat Now

FMTP, KTH, OPAL RT, and NettedAutomation have scheduled a very comprehensive IEC 61850 Training in Stockholm (Sweden) for 19-23 September 2016.
The course is filling-up very fast.
Please reserve your seat as soon as possible.

Click HERE for the brochure with all details.
A similar Course (4 days) is scheduled for Karlsruhe (Germany) 10.-13. October 2016.

See you soon.

The Complete Content of the IEC 61850 News Blog is now Available as Single PDF Document

For those readers of this IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5/6, DNP3, … news blog that want to get the complete content as a single pdf document, it is just a click away … it contains 1120+ posts from 2008 until 2016-04-09. Once you have downloaded the file you can easily browse the content … search … mark … copy … You will find useful information about the standards, vendors like ABB, HMS, Siemens, or utilities …

Click HERE to download all posts of the IEC 61850 blog in a single pdf [14 MB, 823 pages DIN A4]

Enjoy!

In case you have a question, drop us an EMAIL.

The First Official IEC 61850 Edition 2 Client Certificate Goes to? - Siemens

Siemens is the first company in the world to receive an IEC 61850 Edition 2 client certificate, issued by DNV GL on behalf of the UCA International User Group (UCA), for their SICAM PAS/PQS system (basically a PC application that acts as a 61850 client).

Click HERE for the news.

There are other vendors underway to get an IEC 61850 Edition 2 client certificate. TÜV SÜD (Munich) has also been accredited for testing conformance of Edition 2 clients.

More to come. Stay tuned.

Siemens Protection IEDs for DC Traction Power Supply with IEC 61850

Sitras PRO (DC protective unit and controller for DC traction power supply) from Siemens offer a set of well known functions and communication solutions:

Features:

• Complete functionality in a single unit
• Protection
• Measurement
• Control
• Automation
• Flexible adaptation to system requirements
• Standard communication interfaces
• High-performance diagnostics, comprehensive event,
  alarm and measured value memory
  

Protocols:

• PROFIBUS DP
• PROFINET IO
• IEC 61850
• SNTP

Click HERE for more information on Siemens Rail Electrification.

In a press release Siemens announced to use these devices with IEC 61850 for the modernization of traction power supplies for rail rapid transit lines in São Paulo:
Click HERE for a press release (2012).

The Complete Content of the IEC 61850 News Blog is now Available as Single PDF Document

For those readers of this IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5/6, DNP3, … news blog that want to get the complete content as a single pdf document, it is just a click away … it contains 1000+ posts from 2008 until 2015-04-28. Once you have downloaded the file you can easily browse the content … search … mark … copy … You will find useful information about the standards, vendors like ABB, HMS, Siemens, or utilities …

Click HERE to download all posts of the IEC 61850 blog in a single pdf [11.3 MB, 766 pages DIN A4]

Enjoy.

In case you have a question, drop us an EMAIL.

IEC 61850 Devices installed worldwide by Siemens: 300.000

The amount of IEDs installed in China (see post of yesterday) is amazing: some 10.000 by each of the major vendors … in some 10.000 substations (by 2013).

Siemens reported that they have installed 300.000 already:

Siemens reported in 2010:
As the world’s leading supplier of IEC61850 installations with over 1,000 reference sites,

Siemens was proud to deliver the first IEC61850 installation for a transmission utility in Australia
http://www.siemens.com.au/files/Energy/Distribution/ea_cs_electranet.pdf

and in 2012: Siemens has the largest installed base worldwide:
more than 200,000 Siemens devices with IEC 61850 are in operation around the globe.

http://www.energy.siemens.com/MX/pool/hq/energy-topics/standards/iec-61850/IEC61850_e.pdf

and in 2014: More than 300,000 devices with IEC 61850 are in operation around the globe
http://w3.siemens.com/smartgrid/global/en/products-systems-solutions/smart-communication/pages/iec-61850.aspx

These figures speak for themselves.

Are you looking for IEC 61850 TICS, PICS, PIXIT, … Documents?

I talked the other day to experts of a big user. We shared our experience of increased “information hiding” when it comes to the availability and accessibility of the various documents like PICS, PIXIT, TICS, … Product handbooks, manuals, … When you checked websites of major vendors some years ago, you could find a bunch of technical material … I have figured out that these documents are quite often hidden … or not anymore available online.

I found still good examples for downloading many of the these crucial documents:

Click HERE for a Website of ABB to find PICS and other documents

Click HERE for a Website of Alstom Grid to find PICS …

Click HERE for a Website of Schneider Electric to find PICS and other documents.

Click HERE for a Website of Siemens to find some 30 PIXIT documents.
Click HERE to see a list of some 40 references to IEC 61850 Ethernet Module EN100.

Congratulation to the IEC 61850 Teams!

Enjoy the documents. Are you looking for help to understand these documents? Why do we need these at all? Isn’t IEC 61850 a standard? … and then all these documents …

Click HERE to get help!

Siemens reported using IEC 60870-5-104 for DEMS

Siemens DEMS 3.0 stands for third version of their “Decentralized Energy Management System”. It uses IEC 60870-5-104 for communication with power generators, storage devices or loads. The use of open communication and other solutions built-in reduce the engineering cost for virtual power plants by 60 percent – according to Siemens.

What could you do to apply the same cost reduction – or more – if you have to integrate IEDs that provide IEC 61850 information, information exchange and configuration language? Or how to connect a DEMS 3.0 system to IEC 61850?

Here is – I guess – the easiest and shortest time-to-market solution … without writing a single line of program code: The gateway using a so-called com.tom (communication to machine). The topology of an example is shown in the following figure. The gateway is implemented in the upper box.

All WEB PLC objects (inputs and outputs) related to IEC 61850 models are automatically generated from the corresponding SCL files. There is no need to do any manual configuration as long as you have the ICD files of the devices. The object names of the WEB PLC are derived from the object references of the IED/LD/LN.DO.DOA and so on. You see the path names in the I/O list.

All WEB PLC objects can be used to build applications like linking any input with any output (applying the same type – of course): single point input to single point output. The following diagram shows a simple gateway functionality to receive a command via IEC 60870-5-104, route it through an IEC 61850 client to an underlying IEC 61850 server that switches a fan on or off. The status of the FAN LN (using an extended Data Object OpSt) reports the status of the fan. This status is received from the underlying IED via an IEC 61850 report and routed to an IEC 61850 server and an IEC 60870-5-104 server in the gateway.

After “drawing” this diagram, all you need to do is to store the diagram to the gateway (com.tom Basic 3.1 S) and start the program. That’s it.

You may also have figured out the the com.tom Basic 3.1 S integrates an 5-port Ethernet Switch and another independent Ethernet port. This allows to build secure proxy servers/gateways.

The WEB PLC with IEC 60870-5-104, DNP3, Modbus, IEC 61850, … is a very easy, low cost and fast-to-market product that can be applied for many applications running on these communication solutions and for gateways. The application is freely configurable by drawing lines.

If you need complex functions, you can write them in C/C++ or IEC 61131-3 (CoDeSys) and wrap them for immediate use at the WEB PLC. For more complex applications you can program the application in C/C++ or CoDeSys and use the same communication.

Whatever protocol standard is used for a system (IEC 60870-5-104 for Siemens DEMS 3.0) you can easily integrate other devices that run DNP3, Modbus, IEC 61850, … with the com.tom WEB PLC gateway.

You want to learn more about the gateway, please contact us.

Click HERE for information about the com.tom family. The com.tom Basic 3.1, for example, costs 368 Euro plus some license costs for IEC 60870-5-104 and IEC 61850 – this includes already the 5-port Ethernet Switch!

Vulnerabilities in RuggedCom ROS-based Devices

RuggedCom switches and serial-to-Ethernet devices are used to connect devices that operate in harsh environments such as electric utility substations and traffic control cabinets.
Potential vulnerabilities in the web server’s authentication of the affected products might allow attackers to gain administrative access to the web interface over the network without authentication or unprivileged users to perform privilege escalation.

AFFECTED PRODUCTS
- RuggedCom devices with ROS version < ROS v3.12.2

RuggedCom and Siemens recommend upgrading to the current firmware version ROS v.3.12.2 which fixes the potential vulnerabilities.

Click HERE for more details.

Siemens Siprotec 5: IEC 61850 Edition 2 certified

The Siprotec 5 protection devices are the first devices of their kind on the market worldwide to be certified under IEC 61850, Edition 2. Thanks to the certification under IEC 61850, Edition 2, these Siemens products have the "future built right in," for long-term investment security.

All Siemens protection device series provide two new Ethernet redundancy protocols – HSR (high-availability seamless redundancy) and PRP (parallel redundancy protocol).

These new products prove that IEC 61850 is THE standard for energy delivery systems.

Click HERE for the press release.

More on Siprotec 5 could be found HERE.

Communication solution for Siprotec 4 and 5

The Siemens Siprotec solutions support usually several solutions for communication interfaces. The following list shows which communication solutions are supported by Siprotec 4 and Siprotec 5 devices:

According to Siemens comprises the installed base of Siprotec devices about one million devices and some 250,000 with IEC 61850. As you can see, the Siprotec 5 does (not yet) support IEC 60870-5-104*, not any more FMS, DP, and Profinet.
* under development for Siprotec 5.

Source (dated 2013):
Selection Guide for SIPROTEC Edition 2

The number devices with IEC 61850 interface is growing very fast. Recently experts from two German utilities told me that they expect that in some time down the road even 104 will not anymore be offered by major manufacturers.

IEC 61850 at 17. Kasseler Symposium Energie-Systemtechnik

The 17. Kasseler Symposium Energie-Systemtechnik will be held in Kassel (Germany) on 11.-12. October 2012. One of the various issue is the information and communication technology and the extended focus on electricity, gas and heating systems that are understood to form “Hybrid Grids”.

IEC 61850 will be discussed in the presentation “Standardisierte Anbindung von Anlagen nach IEC 61850” (Standardized connection of plants according to IEC 61850) by Martin Winter, SIEMENS AG.

The complete Program (German and English) can be downloaded.

Online registration.

I look forward to meeting you there. Want to discuss any IEC 61850, IEC 61400-25 or IEC 60870-5-104 related issue, let me know please.

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.

Siemens SIPROTEC 5 – Documents online

http://www.energy.siemens.com/br/en/automation/power-transmission-distribution/protection/siprotec5/

Click on "Download Software & Documents" on right side of page.

The SIP 5.01 booklet is listed as "System Catalog V1.0"

Siemens Industry to take over RuggedCom

The Siemens division Industry (not Energy!) announced yesterday (2012-01-30) that they agreed with RuggedCom to acquire Canadian network supplier RuggedCom Inc. The other day it was reported that Belden was trying to take over RuggedCom.

Click HERE for the Siemens press release from 2012-01-30.

It is quite interesting to see how long it took to make Ethernet an enjoyable solution:

Excerpt from the press release: “Siemens’ portfolio of industrial Ethernet networking components is enjoying above-average growth rates compared to the competition. Until now, the main emphasis of Siemens’ installed base in this segment has been in Europe. “RuggedCom’s portfolio would be an ideal addition to our range of industrial Ethernet communication products, improving our industrial-quality router and switch offering. In addition, the acquisition would improve our footprint in the North America and the Asia-Pacific region,” said Anton S. Huber, CEO of the Siemens Industry Automation Division. Huber also indicated that all of RuggedCom’s and Siemens’ product lines would be developed further in the next few years.”

What is meant by “competition” in the statement “industrial Ethernet networking components is enjoying above-average growth rates compared to the competition”? Is Ethernet competing with the “Profi”- and many other Fieldbusses … Profibus and ProfiNet … FF fieldbus …?

For me this deal indicates that the native Ethernet solution as provided by RuggedCom and used in IEC 61850 is the most “enjoyable” and successful network solution in the next 20 years or so! RuggedCom is (as Belden/Hirschmann) quite active in the IEC 61850 standardization.

When I worked for Siemens Industry in the early 90s, I recommended to use native Ethernet instead of fieldbusses … now we write 2012 – 20 years later.

Click HERE for the paper “Bridging MAP to Ethernet” [PDF, 720 KB, 1991]

Click HERE for the paper “Fieldbus standardization: Another way to go” [PDF, 720 KB, 1991].