German E-Energy Roadmap for Smart Grid published

The 70+ page Roadmap of the German E-Energy Projects and German Standardization organizations has been published the other day.

The Roadmap contains many recommendations on how to use existing standards and how to improve or extend those standards. According to the German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology "it is the task now to ascertain the extend to which these approaches can be implemented". He wishes the Roadmap many readers and users.

The Roadmap refers some 50 times to IEC 61850 - IEC 61850 is one of the very crucial standards for Smart Grids. IEC 61850 is likely THE standard that will be used in many domains outside the electrical world. The new edition of the information models (IEC 61850-7-4) contain many new Logical Nodes like STMP (Supervisory of temperatures) that can be used wherever a temperature is to be monitored for limit violation (alarm and trip): in a factory, building, power plant, ship, ...

IEC 61850 is a single standard for many application domains. More to come. Stay tuned.

Click HERE to download the German Smart Grid Roadmap in English [pdf, 2,9 MB]
Click HERE to download the German Version [pdf, 1.3 MB]

IEC 61850 @ CHIP Development Kit (Starter Kit) available

The Beck IPC IEC 61850 @ CHIP Development Kit (Starter Kit) is now available for order: Special price until 2010-05-21!

This is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to get started with IEC 61850!

The IPC@CHIP DK61 Development Kit is the complete development system for the IPC@CHIP SC123/SC143 Embedded Controller. It contains all the hardware and software components required for the fast development of customer applications.

The fair package also includes:

• DK60 Development Board including the SC143-IEC
• Paradigm C/C compiler on CD®
• CoDeSys CD (IEC 61131-3 PLC programming language)
• IEC 61850Li C
• 100 – 240V/24V plug-in power supply unit
• Programming and Ethernet cable
• SD card
  
  ORDER FORM and other information:
  
• Orderform_Special-Price_DK61-IEC61850
• IEC 61850 Protocol API User Manual
• PIS10 PICS
• Getting_Started_DK61_IEC61850
• General info on IPC@CHIP

First day at Hanover Fair was a big success for IEC 61850 @ Chip

The first day of the Hanover Fair (Hannover Messe 2010) - Monday April 19, 2010 - was a big success for IEC 61850 on the Beck IPC@Chip.

Many experts came by and stopped at the Beck booth E51 in hall 27 to see the IEC 61850 @ Chip in action. Even the German Chancellor, Mrs. Angela Merkel (in the center of the photo), came by and enjoyed seeing the many new products. The Beck booth has one of the crucial products of interest for Smart Grids: IEC 61850 @ Chip!

The booth has been "tagged" with an additional banner at the end of the first day ... as an eye catcher for people coming by on Tuesday and the other days:

We hope that You will stop for a demonstration and some discussion on the benefit of the standard @ Chip:

See you at booth E51 in hall 27 !! Once you are in hall 27 you will not miss the booth!

Manitoba Hydro (Canada) Goes IEC 61850 for 100+ Substations

Cooper Power Systems announced on April 12, 2010, that it is working with Manitoba Hydro and its system integrator, Virelec, to develop fully IEC 61850 compliant substations. The project is intended to modernize, automate and integrate over 100 substations, following the IEC 61850 standard.

Click HERE for the Cooper press release.

Manitoba Hydro, a utility headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada), was looking to replace their current Substation Automation System (SAS) which is a discrete RTU and PLC-based control and metering architecture with an integrated IEC 61850-based architecture. This initiative follows a trend that is observed throughout the world, as the benefits of technologically advanced IEDs and IEC 61850 get more interest from utilities.

A comprehensive 4-day training in 2008 for some 25 of their best engineers helped the Manitoba Hydro "IEC 61850 Team" to write the system specification in a way so that the potential vendors and system integrators got a very detailed and comprehensive specification taking IEC 61850 into account. The responsible engineers wanted to write a document that covers all crucial requirements with regard to the standard. This is contrary to many specifications today that spend one sentence: "Communication: according to IEC 61850."

Click HERE for the White paper from Manitoba Hydro and Cooper.

IEC 61850 Goes University in Sydney - And You?

IEC 61850 is one of the crucial standards that needs to be understood by  young aspiring automation and electrical engineers. ABB has opened a hands-on training lab including their substation automation system at the University of Sydney. This will allow young people to get first experience with the power of the standard.

The Beck IPC Development Kit (DK61) for IEC 61850 / IEC 61400-25 to be presented at the Hannover Messe 2010 (Hanover Fair) at booth E51 in hall 27 from 19-23 April 2010 is an excellent opportunity to get started with IEC 61850 - in real projects, in pilot projects, in university labs, ... any kind of lab or just at your office desk. The DK61 is a 16 Bit programmable micro controller (C/C++, IEC 61131-3 CoDeSys) that has the IEC 61850 stack integrated on the IPC@CHIP.

To my knowledge: This Kit provides the fastest and easiest way to get started with the use of IEC 61850 implementations - and very likely the most cost effective way!

Come and visit Beck IPC at the Hannover Messe Hall 27 Booth E51 - See you there (Plan of hall 27)
Click HERE if you want to get a free entry ticket for the fair.
Click HERE to for more information on the IPC@CHIP with IEC 61850 integrated.
Click HERE to contact BECK IPC for an Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the IEC 61850 Chip, Ready-to-Go modules, and Development Kit DK61.

What are the benefits of IEC 61850?

If you ask different people you get various answers. Guess most experts agree that crucial benefits are: use of TCP/IP, Ethernet, Client/Server, and Layer 2 Publisher/Subscriber (GOOSE and Sampled Values), get rid of copper wires. What else? Information Models, System Configuration Language (SCL), retrieving the self-description of Information Models from IEDs, and ...

Another crucial benefit of IEC 61850 and IEC 61400-25 (IEC 61850 extensions for Wind Power Plants - defined in IEC TC 88) is that it is a GLOBALLY accepted STANDARD. Hmm, a standard is a standard! - So, what is special here?

If you implement client/server, GOOSE, and SV it is defined WHICH protocol you have to choose for each of the three: MMS, TCP/IP, ... for client/server, "GOOSE" for GOOSE, and "SV" for SV ... You don't have to choose between 40 or 50 solutions! See the international field bus standard IEC 61158: click HERE for a list of the 50+ field-bus-standards in a single standard.

You should ask (from time to time) this question: What would the situation in the domain of power utility protection, control and automation be WITHOUT IEC 61850? We would have a lot of very different vendor specific solutions, regional standards, utility standards, ... and may be a situation like in the field-bus domain!

"A technical standard is an established norm or requirement. It is usually a formal document that establishes UNIFORM engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes and practices." (according to Wikipedia). This is what IEC 61850 provides: UNIFORM definitions to a high degree. The field-bus standard has TOO MANY NON-UNIFORM definitions.

It's a big benefit that we have prevented really an intoxicating proliferation of protocols and other definitions. We have even prevented two standards for utility communication: In 1998 IEC TC 57 and IEEE agreed to merge UCA 2.0 and IEC 61850 into ONE standard - a great decision! From a global viewpoint we have one situation where we have two standards: IEC 610870-5-101/104 and DNP3 ... this is definitely better than having 10 or more under one number ;-) 

Edition 2 of IEC 61850-7-4 has been published

The second edition of IEC 61850-7-4 has been published as international standard:

Communication networks and systems for power utility automation –
Part 7-4: Basic communication structure – Compatible logical node classes and data object classes

Click HERE to download the preview of part 7-4.

A list of all currently published Logical Nodes and Data Objects can be found HERE.

IEC 61850 on IPC@CHIP® at Hannover Messe, April 19-23, 2010

Beck IPC (Pohlheim, Germany), SystemCorp (Perth, Australia), and NettedAutomation (Karlsruhe, Germany) will present at the Hannover Messe 2010 (Hannover, Germany) in Hall 27 Booth E51 on 19.-23. April 2010 the IEC 61850 integrated on the IPC@CHIP^®, compact modules and ruggedized IEDs for harsh environments based on IPC@CHIP^®.

The IEC 61850 conformant products shown in Hannover are applicable for many domains of utility automation - to make the power delivery system smarter:

• Smart Automation of Power Generation
  Monitoring, protection and control of process and equipment (reactive power control, condition monitoring of turbines, ...)
• Smart Automation of Power Transmission
  Monitoring, protection and control of process and equipment (interlocking, condition monitoring of transformer and switch gears, ...)
• Smart Automation of Power Distribution
  Monitoring, protection and control of process and equipment (fault location, power restoration, condition monitoring of transformer, ...)
• Smart Automation of Vehicle to Grid
  Monitoring and control of process and equipment (charger station, condition monitoring of charging station, ...)
• Smart Automation of Loads and Generation
  Monitoring and control of process and equipment (load control, active and reactive power control, ...)

Due to the fact that IEC 61850 / IEC 61400-25 define many common aspects of standardized information and information exchange services it is obvious that standard conformant products can be applied in many domains outside the power industry: in gas and oil transmission and distribution networks, and in any other industrial automation domain.

IEC 61850 Chip Revealed at DistribuTech 2010 in Tampa

The Beck IP@CHIP integrating IEC61850Li (IEC 61400-25) was revealed during the DistribuTech Exhibition in Tampa (Florida) from March 23-25, 2010.

The Tampa Convention Center hosted the 20th DistribuTech. The Conference and Exhibition was a big success - more exhibitors, more visitors, and more products, interest and discussions related to IEC 61850!

One of the crucial topics was the discussion of Smart Grids. The range of names for the same thing span a variation of terms: from Advanced Metering, Smart Metering, Smart Grid, to Intelligent Smart Grid. Experts that have a good understanding of the North American market told that this was the first time where almost all people talked about IEC 61850 - one way or the other.

In the light of the many requirements from Smarter Grids and Distribution Automation to define, use, exchange, store, and manage much more "signals" in future, the IEC 61850 Chip revealed at the UCA IUG Booth was really welcomed by many international experts: from Australia, Russia, Europe, North an South America.

The module shown above is a Gateway (Beck IPC - COM.TOM; with the Chip integrated) that could map CAN Bus signals into IEC 61850 models. The Module supports also a GSM/GPRS modem. The application could be programmed using C/C++ or IEC 61131-3 (PLC programming language - based on CoDeSys, the well known platform). Other modules with different I/O's are available. Support for IEC 60870-5-101/104 and DNP3 is under way.

The most crucial help for the application of IEC 61850/61400-25 is the Development Kit for IEC 61850: DK61. The Chip as well as the Development Kit are available for purchase. The prices for both components are amazingly low - you can afford to purchase the Development Kit without long discussions with your management and your accountants.

Get Smart Quick with the IEC61850Li (IEC 61850 Lite implementation). One interesting product with the IEC 61850 Lite implementation is the IPC@Chip® with IEC 61850 Client, Server, GOOSE publisher and subscriber on the Chip in addition to IEC 61131-3 (PLC programming language, using the well known CoDeSys platform), C/C++ programming, FTP, TELNET, TCP/IP, web server, 2 Ethernet ports, GSM/GPRS, WiFi, CAN bus, and many other possibilities.

The Chip and Ready-To-Go Modules (with the chip on board) are applied for IEDs, Gateways, RTUs, Data and Information Managers, Smart Grids, Distributed Energy Resources like PV, CHP, Wind, Hydro, Fuel Cells, ...

Click HERE to get general and background information.

Beck IPC (Germany) and SystemCorp (Perth, Australia) will present the Chip, compact modules, ruggedized IEDs for high voltage environments, and IEC 61850/61400-25 Stack Software at the Hannover Messe 2010 in Hannover (Germany) on 19-23 April 2010. Visit them in Hall 27 Booth E51.

I want to share a nice experience with you: Some 2 1/2 years ago I did a half day presentation on IEC 61850 to the experts and the management of a North American electric utility. At DistribuTech 2008 I asked the young engineer of that utility how IEC 61850 is doing in his company. He said: "Oh, we are still two retirements away from using the standard." During the Distributech 2010 I asked the young man again. This time he mentioned, that things are improving: They are now just one retirement away from using IEC 61850. This is an experience I have made quite often - utility management blocks new technologies, technologies that they may need to keep the lights on in the long run.

IEC 61400-25 AND IEC 61850 for Wind Turbines

The standard IEC 61400-25 (Wind turbines – IEC 61400-25: Communications for monitoring and control of wind power plants) must be seen in conjunction with IEC 61850. The wind turbine specific information models (Logical Nodes) can be used with IEC 61850 compliant tools and communication stacks. Services like GOOSE and Sampled Values Exchange are NOT referenced in IEC 61400-25 - because the SCADA experts that have defined the standard series some 10 years ago did not see any need to include these services in the list of services to be inherited from IEC 61850.

From a technical and implementation point of view there is no reason to not use these real-time services for wind power applications. Any IEC 61850 compliant implementation of GOOSE and SV could be used to exchange any data object of IEC 61400-25-2 (Wind turbine LNs). The missing reference of GOOSE and SV in IEC 61400-25 has already been used to state that IEC 61400-25 would not support real-time services (I guess this is an excuse in order to propose a non-IEC61850 solution for real-time applications, e.g., a fieldbus).  The statement is - from a document point of view - true, but the fact is, that GOOSE and SV as specified in IEC 61850 can be understood as an integral part of IEC 61400-25. That is the benefit of the fact that IEC 61400 builds on IEC 61850 - most of the IEC 61850 definitions, implementations, and tools can be used also for wind power plants - without any change!

On the other side: The additional communication stacks (mappings) defined in IEC 61400-25-4 may are usually not implemented in substation IEDs. The stacks specified in this part of IEC 61400-25 comprise:

• SOAP-based web services,
• a mapping to OPC/XML-DA,
• a mapping to MMS (IEC 61850-8-1),
• a mapping to IEC 60870-5-104,
• a mapping to DNP3.

Click HERE for more details on mappings in IEC 61400-25-4.
Click HERE for a General Electric paper that discusses the application of SV realtime communication in wind power parks.

DistribuTech 2010: Paper and Presentation on IEC 61850/61400-25 for Monitoring

A very important topic at the recent DistribuTech Conference (23-25 March 2010) was the paper presentation on "Monitoring and Control of Power Systems and Communication Infrastructures" based on IEC 61850 and IEC 61400-25" presented by Karlheinz Schwarz, SCC. The Session was about "Enterprise Information and Asset Management". The first presentations were the right basis for the presentation of IEC 61850: the smart grid and the transformer monitoring will create much more information to be exchanged than in today's systems. Transformer monitoring in the Distribution Network is one of the crucial solutions to keep the power flowing. IEC 61850 and IEC 61400-25 have a lot of logical nodes and data objects.

The presentation was attended by some 40 experts. Good questions were discussed at the end of the presentation.

The paper has an attachment with the names of all 283 published Logical Nodes of all standards of the series IEC 61850 and IEC 61400-25.

Click HERE for the paper [PDF, 670 KB]
Click HERE for the presentation slides [PDF, 300 KB]

Get Smart Quick with IEC 61850 on a Chip

The long wait for a lite implementation of IEC 61850 is over:

IEC61850Li® is available now

Get Smart Quick with the IEC61850Li (IEC 61850 Lite implementation). One interesting product with the IEC 61850 Lite implementation is the IPC@Chip® with IEC 61850 Client, Server, GOOSE publisher and subscriber on the Chip in addition to IEC 61131-3 (PLC programming language), C/C++ programming, FTP, TELNET, TCP/IP, web server, 2 Ethernet ports, GSM/GPRS, WiFi, CAN bus, and many other possibilities.

The Chip and Ready-To-Go Modules (with the chip on board) are applied for IEDs, Gateways, RTUs, Data and Information Managers, Smart Grids, Distributed Energy Resources like PV, CHP, Wind, Hydro, Fuel Cells, ...

Click HERE to get more details and contact information.

A demonstration will be provided during the DistribuTech 2010, Tampa (Florida), 23-25 March 2010: See you at the UCA IUG Booth 1932

See you in two weeks: IEC 61850 - Enterprise Information and Asset Management at DistribuTech 2010

Three case studies explore experiences in planning, architecting and implementing innovative applications that leverage power system automation and control infrastructure and data to extend benefits beyond the control room.

DistribuTech 2010, Wednesday, March 24, 9:30 a.m.

Enterprise Information and Asset Management   (Room 19)

Conquering Organizational, Business Process and IT Challenges

Author(s):

• Al Mithani, DMS Project Manager, BC Hydro
• Bob Uluski, Executive Advisor, Quanta Technology

Distribution Substation Transformer Monitoring and Diagnostics at AEP
Author(s):

• Paul Thomas, AEP Ohio gridSMARTSM Deployment Project Manager, American Electric Power
• Byron Flynn, Technical Director, GE Energy
• Leon White, Monitoring & Diagnostics Sales Manager, GE Energy

Monitoring of Power System and Communication Infrastructures Based on IEC 61850 and IEC 61400-25
Author(s):

• Karlheinz Schwarz, Owner, SCC (Schwarz Consulting Company)

Click HERE for the paper abstract.

See you in Room 19 on Wednesday, March 24, 9:30 a.m.

Deutsche Normungstrategie - Aktualisierte Ausgabe

Deutschland hat eine Normungsstrategie! Normungsarbeit rückt zunehmend ins Bewußtsein der Verantwortlichen aus Wirtschaft, Verbänden und Regierung! Seit 2005 werden strategische Konzepte zur Normung definiert und permanent an die Gegebenheiten angepasst.

Die große Bedeutung der Normung - auch und gerade im Bereich der Energieversorgung mit IEC 61850, IEC 61400-25, IEC 61968/70 CIM, ... - wird von maßgeblichen Verantwortlichen immer häufiger gesehen!

"Durch eine effiziente, von der Politik unterstützte, engere Verknüpfung von Forschung und Entwicklung mit Normung und Standardisierung ist dafür Sorge zu tragen, dass die innovationsfördernde Wirkung der Normung und Standardisierung in noch stärkerem Maß zum Tragen kommt. ... Für Deutschland als Exportland ist die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit deutscher Produkte und Technologien auf dem Weltmarkt zu sichern und weiter auszubauen. Weltweit akzeptierte, einheitliche Normen und Standards sind hierzu der Schlüssel."

Der hohe Nutzen von Norm wird sicher auch am Beispiel der Meterkonvention deutlich, in der am 20. Mai 1875 17 Staaten einen internationalen Vertrag unterzeichnen mit der Aufgabe, Maß und Gewicht international zu vereinheitlichen und dafür nötige Organisationsformen zu schaffen sowie diese zu finanzieren. Ganz nach dem Motto "Einer braucht eine Idee, einer muss es haben wollen und einer muss es bezahlen".

Click HIER zum Laden der neuen Ausgabe der Deutschen Normungsstrategie.

Die IEC 61850 – ein Kernstandard des zukünftigen Smart Grids

Am 15. und 16. April 2010 findet im Kloster Eberbach bei Wiesbaden ein Expertenforum zum Thema "Die IEC 61850 – ein Kernstandard des zukünftigen Smart Grids" statt. Namhafte Experten werden sowohl wesentliche Aspekte der Normenreihe vorstellen als auch in einem Dialog führen mit betroffenen verantwortlichen Vorstände und Geschäftsführer sowie leitenden Mitarbeiter und Entscheidungsträger der technischen und IT-Abteilungen von Energieversorgungsunternehmen, Netzbetreibern in öffentlichen und innerbetrieblichen Verteilnetzen und Betreibergesellschaften von erneuerbaren Energieerzeugungsanlagen. Angesprochen sind ebenfalls verantwortliche Mitarbeiter von Systemlieferanten, aus den Hersteller- und Zulieferunternehmen.

Teilnehmer können bereits im Vorfeld Fragen an die Experten stellen!

Click HIER für weitere Informationen.

3 day IEC 61850 Seminar and Hands-on Training Moved from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo

The 3 day Seminar/Hands-on Training on IEC 61850 with real protection and control IEDs and test sets scheduled for Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 28.-30. April 2010, has ben moved to São Paulo. Program and dates are the same:

Buenos Aires (Argentina), 26.-28. April 2010
Support for the organization and local contact: Artec

São Paulo (Brazil), 28.-30. April 2010
Support for the organization and local contact: Instronic

Click HERE for the program and registration information [pdf] ... see you there.

What is Edition 1 and Edition 2 of IEC 61850?

The first 14 parts of the standard SERIES IEC 61850 have been published between 2001 and 2004. These standards are often understood as IEC 61850 EDITION 1. Each of these parts and also the two parts IEC 61850-7-410 (Hydro Power) and IEC 61850-7-420 (DER) have been published tagged as EDITION 1. Example:

Click HERE for preview of Part 7-420 EDITION 1: Basic communication structure – Distributed energy resources logical nodes

Several of these 16 published standards are now under revision (IEC calls this process maintenance). The revised document - once published - will be tagged EDITION 2, e.g., the EDITION 2 of part IEC 61850-6 has been published recently:

Click HERE for the Preview of the standard IEC 61850-6 EDITION 2.

Additional parts, e.g., IEC 61850-7-4 or -7-3 are in the maintenance process and will be published in their EDITION 2 very soon.

BUT there will be not an EDITION 2 of the standard SERIES IEC 61850 per se!! Various parts (of the first 16 parts) will be revised and extended and then published tagged as EDITION 2.

New parts will be published with the tag EDITION 1, e.g., IEC 61850-80-1 (Guideline to exchanging information from a CDC-based data model using IEC 60870-5-101 or IEC 60870-5-104) - IEC/TS 61850-80-1, Edition 1.0, 2008-12.

Click HERE for a preview of IEC 61850-80-1 EDITION 1.

All parts published after the first 14 parts that had been published by 2004 have either the tag Edition 2 or Edition 1 !!

If you are waiting for "Edition 2" what do you mean? I guess you mean the following:

• EDITION 2 of parts IEC 61850-6, -7-4, -7-3, -7-2, -7-1, -8-1, 9-2, 7-410, 7-420, etc. and
• EDITION 1 of the parts IEC 61850-80-1, 61850-90-1, -90-2, -90-3, -90-4, etc.

Click HERE to download a table of all parts of Edition 1 and Edition 2 (updated 2010-02-01).

It is highly recommended to name the specific part when we talk about EDITION 2! Example: IEC 61850-6 EDITION 2.

Hope that helps!

UCA International Users Group at DistribuTECH 2010

The UCA International Users Group (UCAiug) will be present at the DistribuTECH 2010: Booth 1932; March 23-25, 2010 - Tampa Convention Center - Tampa Florida

Celebrating 20 years as the leading annual T&D event. DistribuTECH covers automation and control systems, energy efficiency, engineering, demand response, renewables integration, power delivery equipment and water utility technology. No show provides more educational and networking opportunities than DistribuTECH.

Plan for a stop at Booth 1932 for a chat with Karlheinz Schwarz (NettedAutomation) about the latest developments on "IEC61850-Li" (Lite implementation) and to see how it looks like. You will be surprised!

Click HERE to visit the DistribuTCH website.
Click HERE for an abstract of a paper on IEC 61850 at the DistribuTECH
Click HERE to visit the UCAiug