It seems that there is a growing interest in applying IEC 61850 in the United States. At least there are tenth of open positions that require knowledge and experience in IEC 61850.
One states for example: “Experience with IEC 61850 compliant substation automation applications including IED configuration utilizing MMS and GOOSE protocols and network architectures.”
Click HERE for an updated list of open positions related to IEC 61850.
More to come.
Vulnerabilities in the automation of power grids are more often on the radar screen of information and control system experts. It seems that some people are using the situation of aging infrastructures to make money with finger-pointing to the vulnerabilities of implementations of protocols like DNP3 or others. Or is it just fun to discover “holes” in the often low level secured information and communication systems?
Click HERE for a report (Electrical Grid Is Called Vulnerable to Power Shutdown) in The New York Times.
There are – in my view – two crucial issues (among other) when it comes to security measures for information exchange systems in power systems:
1. Lack in Expertise
2. Lack in Resources
There are a lot of discussions regarding aging infrastructures these days. I hope the discussions will have a real impact of securing our infrastructures, especially the electrical power system delivery systems!
Open standard protocols allow remote access to a lot of critical systems like substations or power generation sites. ENEL (Italian Power Company) operates some 400.000 Substations worldwide – some 100.000 are remotely monitored. So, 300.000 substations cannot be reached by protocols. Hundreds of protocols may be in use in the power industry. This makes it quite hard to easily break into most of the substations worldwide. With the application of standards like IEC 60870-5-104, DNP3, Modbus IP, or IEC 61850 this will change soon.
The most secure protocol is the protocol that has never implemented or used! With the acceptance of a few open protocols it is quite obvious that security measures HAVE to be put in place to secure the information exchange to some reasonable degree!
Stakeholders of power utilities have to become MORE aware of the situation of the vulnerabilities in the automation of power grids! A aging bridge may be closed – and you have to detour a bit … but a blackout of a part of the electrical power delivery system due to a lack in security may end in a crucial disaster, leaving us out of power for hours and even days.
It is worth to spend more time and resources in securing all our infrastructures – first of all the electric power delivery system. Without power: no telecommunications, no transportation, no …
The well known IEC 61850 platform “BECK IPC Chip” used in many applications provides secure communication as integrated part of the real-time operating system!
It is not sufficient to know that IEDs are available that provide a reasonable level of security: YOU MUST understand and USE such solutions!!
The architecture of the chip includes security measures:
Click HERE to request more information on the security measures implemented in the RTOS and applicable for IEC 6870-5-104 and IEC 61850.
There is no need to wait for secure IEC 61850 communication! It is here.
17 Aug 2013
Level A - IEC 61850 Server
Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI)
111, Hanggaul-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan-si,
Gyeonggi-do, 426-910, Republic of Korea
15 Oct 2013
Level A - IEC 61850 Client
Korea Testing Laboratory
87, Digital 26-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul, Korea
15 Oct 2013
Level A - IEC 61850 Conformance Testing for Edition 2 Server Products
KEMA Nederland B.V.
Utrechtseweg 310
6812 AR Arnhem
The number of tested and certified IEDs (2013-10-18):
33 Clients (Ed1)
367 Server (Ed1)
2 Server (Ed2)
11 Merging Units (9-2LE)
Did you know that there is a world standards day? I didn’t!
I searched a bit and found a nice web page:
http://www.worldstandardscooperation.org/wsd.html
The results of the World Standards Day 2013 poster competition encouraged me to discuss a bit time and power!
The first price was won by Frederica Scott Vollrath (Germany):
This is really describing what IEC 61850 does: let the power flow through a lot of interrelated gear wheels.
It is one of the most interesting, albeit most challenging aspects of the future power system development because there must be a guarantee that all aspects and tasks of the functions and information sharing services will mesh together like the teeth of gear wheels!!
Well done poster!!
I visited the other day a museum with several of our grand sons (Dynamikum). We saw the following set of 18 gear wheels:
The top wheel is driven by a motor with 250 rpm and 26.5 Watt:
The motor drives the first wheel (large), the first (small) drives the second (large), and so on.
The questions are:
How long does it take until the 18. (last) wheel turns one (1!!) time? How much energy is consumed by the motor during that time?
It takes 3 Million years!!
The motor would consume
26,5 W x 365 x 24 x 3,000,000 h =
7 x 10**2 GWh or
0.7 TWh
WOW
That would cost some 128 Million Euro at 0.2 Euro/kwh …
Without IEC standards it would be much more expensive! Or?
IEEE invites all interested parties to contribute to the development of a plan "DC in the Home" to ensure that DC electricity can be safely and conveniently accessed in homes, eliminating the wasteful conversion of AC to DC, and in many cases, DC to AC, prior to entering the home.
This seems to be an interesting question. I guess people digging into this issue will – some time down the street – start discussing a DC communication standard. Is this required? I guess it is not needed.
IEC 61850 could already be applied as well for DC systems. IEC 61850 defines many models for, e.g., PV inverter, batteries, storage systems, DC protection, … DC measurements.
As an example see the logical node MMDC defined in IEC 61850-7-4 Ed2:
Northeast Utilities (NU) in Connecticut (USA) confirmed plans to outsource IT work to India-based outsourcers; move will affect some 200 jobs
Northeast Utilities confirmed the other day that it plans to turn over part of its IT operations to two India-based outsourcing firms, despite a recent push by state lawmakers to keep it from doing so.
NU says it employs some 400 IT workers, and "will retain about half of those employees" after turning some operations over to outsourcers Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, two of India's largest IT firms.
Click HERE for more details.
Could this be a solution for automation, control, monitoring … ?
Here is another question somebody brought up discussing the NU approach:
“Would you outsource the autopilot to some inexpensive pilot on the ground in some foreign country with cheap labor? No? Then why is anyone even discussing such options for SCADA? And yet, they do!
The problem is education. Many utilities are putting poorly educated, poorly trained staff at the controls of our infrastructure, and then because it fails all the time, are seriously contemplating outsourcing the whole operation to another country.
Outsourcing to the cloud doesn't work. It's not about the technology. It's the people.”
I would add to state that another crucial problem is the education of people that make these decisions to outsource managing our infrastructure.
The IntelliSub Europe 2013 conference about next-generation smart substations, takes place 26-28 November 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany
Mövenpick Hotel Frankfurt City, Germany
Click HERE for details.
IEC 61850 is a core component that will be discussed throughout the conference.
In 2010 Billam Rajashekar Reddy (Norway) analyzed several semantic models for information exchange supporting operations and maintenance :
“Use of Semantic models in Integrated Operations for Oil & Gas and New Energy”
He looked into many solutions like:
The conclusion drawn at the end of the Master’s Thesis says:
“Use of semantic models in integrated operations for oil and gas and new energy includes several methods. We come across all those methods. The IEC 61400-25 series of standards provides the means to get open and easy access to key O&M data. This data is a necessity for making the evaluations and analysis needed to improve operation and maintenance of the wind power plants. The paper has shown how the standard can be implemented and what benefits are associated with its use.
The standard does not restrict nor mandate specific customer-supplier roles, but provides a solution that supports the whole range of business cases where the different actors can cooperate. Both the customer and the supplier can benefit from IEC 61400-25 through decreased costs for data access and system integration. Time and money can instead be put on the development of applications, functions and methods that increase the performance of the wind turbines. ...”
I totally agree with the last sentence in the above quoted conclusion! The information modelling method, huge bunch of information models defined in IEC 61400-25 and IEC 61850, information exchange, communication protocols, system configuration language, … could be used immediately – if you choose a ready-to-go software solution with an easy API.
Spend your time and money in applying the standards! Build interoperable systems that keep the sky blue, the grass green, and the power flowing ;-)
Click HERE to access the master thesis.
“The DKE has taken an active role in shaping the turnaround in energy policy. Standards open new markets and enable innovation. With the Energiewende 180° initiative, we offer companies and institutions a forum for their various innovations which focus on the energy transition.”
The DKE (German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies of DIN and VDE) is a modern, non-profit service organization for the secure and efficient production, distribution and use of electricity. By extension, it serves to benefit the general public. It is the competence centre for electro technical standardization in Germany.
The power of standardization reveals itself through activities that encourage dialogue, protect competency and strengthen commitment. This is why the DKE launched the Energiewende 180° initiative.
Click HERE to visit the website of the Initiative Energiewende 180°
Free download of the Compendium E-Book is available.
NettedAutomation is one of the supporters of the Energiewende 180 °: The turnaround in energy policy is achieved with IEC standards and good training
Information models in IEC 61850 are growing very fast. Many groups have understood that one of the benefits of IEC 61850 is this: Information Models for real world information (measurements, status, configuration, limits, control, …).
One crucial question is this: Where can you get an overview and introduction in the many models already published or those models underway? There are several groups extending the models for several applications inside and outside electrical substations.
The easiest way is to ask somebody that has a good overview and long-term experience with IEC 61850 …
One of the crucial extensions is defined in the draft IEC 61850-90-3. During a training course I was asked last week if IEC 61850 defines something for overhead line monitoring – he did not have a chance to easily figure out that there is one document under preparation … sure you usually don’t know it or don’t find some documentation.
The following figure gives a brief overview about the various aspects of line monitoring:
Want to learn more on the 300+ Logical Node classes defined so far? Please contact NettedAutomation … or attend the next training course in Frankfurt/Germany on 16-18 October 2013.
You have the chance to learn the basics AND the most crucial definitions of the standards and how they could be used. See you there.
The aging infrastructure and aging work force requires more sensors to make sure that the power is flowing reliably in the future! Almost every day you can read stories about breaking infrastructure.
Please note that the Tissue Data Base for IEC 61850-10 Edition 2 is now open:
Click HERE to go to the part 10 Ed2 tissue data base.
The tissue data base is a very successful means to register, discuss and solve bugs, typos or other issues.
The Merging Unit MU320 offered by Reason combines the Sampled Value exchange with “conventional” Inputs and Outputs using GOOSE and Client/Server communication. This device seems to be a very convenient way to combine both worlds: real-time and general SCADA applications:
Click HERE for a more detailed description.
The simple picture book (simple enough for managers and children) “SCADA and Me: A Book for Children and Management” is worth to “study” – really.
This is the children’s book recommended to be read by managers, politicians, teachers, and technical staff!
The crucial message is: SCADA systems are quite often far away from protected! “You can keep SCADA safe by doing simple things. It is the BASICS that are important.”
Click HERE to read more about the picture book.
Just do it! Protect your system! … It requires education and team work.
I would like to design such a little book on IEC 61850 … such a picture book would end like this:
It is the BASICS that are important. Do you know the basics of IEC 61850 and IEC 62351 (Security)? … are you sure. Maybe it is better to get crucial training on the basics.
What are the benefits of using IEC 61850 for real-time automation functions?
The results of an Australian project shows the capabilities of an IEC 61850 based SCADA solution that supports the integration of real-time automation functions into their platform based on the use of IEC 61131 logic programming and IEC 61850 as a means of communication for distributed automation functions.
The performance of simple Centralised Remedial Action Scheme (CRAS) implemented on a SCADA system has been evaluated and compared to the legacy methods to determine if the performance, security, reliability, scalability/flexibility and cost are justified considering the additional complexity of an integrated system. Experimental results show that the system delivers significant benefits including improved system reliability through reduced device count, improved safety with configurable operator interfaces, mobility services and remote diagnostic capabilities, and reduced engineering costs by providing a unified engineering environment that allows simple and seamless configuration based on the use of open standards.
Gaining an understanding of the capabilities of today’s real-time automation products and IEC 61850, along with new distributed automation and control functions will provide decision makers with the confidence to adopt more capable digital platforms and implement a smarter grid.
The additional complexity introduced with those highly integrated systems is justified. However, digital technology products will require organisations to develop specialised skills-sets, work processes and procedures to ensure a successful transition to new solutions and architectures.
Click HERE to download the complete report [580 KB, pdf]
The European Project Smart Vehicle to Grid Interface (SMARTV2G) invites to attend a one day workshop in
Munich (Germany)
Monday, October 14th 2013
Participation in the event is free. All registered participants will also receive a free ticket for the eCarTec 2013.
The major target of SMARTV2G is the connection of electric vehicles to the grid by enabling controlled flow of energy and power through safe, secure, energy efficient and convenient transfer of electricity and data.
One key component in the project is the application of IEC 61850. Attendees of the workshop will get a deep inside view into the state-of-the-art of Smart Vehicle to Grid integration and status of international standardization. There is a chance to meet senior industry experts.
Click HERE to download the program and registration flyer [270 KB, pdf]
Click HERE for the online registration form in English.
Click HERE for the online registration form in German
See you there.
IEC CO has just published the 67 page FDIS (57/1391/FDIS) for the IEC 61850-3 Edition 2:
Communication networks and systems for power utility automation –
Part 3: General requirements
Ballot closes 2013-11-08
What’s new?
Main clauses are:
TÜV SÜD and three experts from ENEL will present and discuss the application of IEC 61850 for smart grid applications in Italy:
IEC 61850: la comunicazione nelle smart grid.
Connessione con le norme CEI 0-16 e CEI 0-21
10 October 2013
presso TÜV Italia srl
via Carducci 125 pal.23 - Sesto San Giovanni (MI)
This will be a unique opportunity for the Italian audience to get introduction to IEC 61850, especially to understand how and why ENEL is using IEC 61850.
Presentation language will be in Italian.
Click HERE for more information about the (must attend) event.
Click HERE for more information on CEI 0-16 and 0-21.
The Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) reported on August 28, 2013 the following vulnerability:
Adam Crain of Automatak and independent researcher Chris Sistrunk have identified an improper input validation vulnerability in multiple Triangle MicroWorks’ products and third‑party components. Triangle MicroWorks has produced an update that mitigates this vulnerability. Adam Crain has tested the update to validate that it resolves the vulnerability.
This vulnerability could be exploited remotely.
The following Triangle MicroWorks products are affected:
Click HERE to access the complete report.
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