IEC 61850


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About IEC 61850


About IEC 61850 Standard
IEC 61850 is a widely accepted international standard for power system communication. IEC 61850 and its related standards have been adopted to substations, hydro power plants, wind energy networks and distributed energy resources, mainly because of the superior interoperability capabilities. The protocol, with ongoing enhancements on security and communications, is aligned to Smart Grid developments across the world.

IEC 61850 includes several Ethernet-based communications protocols, along with standardized naming and object modeling. It also includes an XML-based substation configuration language (SCL), which enables the exchange of configuration data between tools. SCL is used to design, document and exchange both device level and substation level configurations.IEC 61850 is a more comprehensive approach in integration standards than previous efforts in substation integration. IEC 61850 uses advanced communications techniques to address data management and simplify integration of applications.
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IEC 61850 Network Architecture Benefits
Substation Application
  • Data from lEDs available to all applications via network
  • Communication path unaffected when adding devices or applications
  • Standard network gear provides high performance & flexibility with environmental protection
  • Applications and IEDs Share common :
    - Protocols
    - Data Format and Context
    - Data Addressing / naming conventions
    - Configuration Language
    • Reduced configuration costs from common naming and automatic point configuration and retrieval
    • Equipment migrations occur with minimal Impact on applications
    • Application changes have minimal effect on devices, network or other applications
      IEC 61850 CC-Substation Integration Benefits
      Control Center Applications
      • Creates a single virtual network that eliminates barriers to data access
      • Applications access data independently
      • Market driven solutions expanding rapidly for WAN:
        - Wireless
        - Frame Relay /ATM
        - Metropolitan Fiber rings
        • Performance and flexibility
        • Network migration
        • Application migration
        • System capabilities Eliminates configuration dependencies : add a point w/o reconfiguring Intervening equipments
        • Improved maintainability via use of generic widely available technology
          IEC 61850 Network Architecture Benefits
          Relay to Relay Applications
          • Relays share a common network making sophisticated protection schemes possible
          • Number of links for N relays is N and shared with SCADA
          • Relays send their status to all other relays at once using GOOSE
          • Status exchanged continuously
          • High performance
            • Reduction of wiring costs
            • More flexible programming that is Independent of wiring
            • Reliability: Link status known before use
            • New capabilities not cost effective with hardware systems
            • Higher performance with more data
              IEC 61850-9-2 Process Bus Benefits
              Transducer Interfaces
              • Transducer and I/O signals are shared via network
              • Only one transducer or I/O point per signal
              • Minimisation of calibration and maintenance
              • Incremental cost is linear (signals only)
              • Future: Integrated MU with digital Fiber optic transducers
                • Reduction of wiring costs
                • Reduction in commissioning time as potential miswiring is eliminated
                • Sharing of signals by multicasting provide identical sampled values for all IEDs

                  Upcoming Enhancement in IEC 61850:

                  IEC 61850-7-5xx series – Extended Modeling options Using Logical Nodes
                  IEC 61850-90-x series - Extended the Scope of Communication to related Networks

                  Features of IEC 61850

                  Accommodates all generation and storage options
                  It is being expanded to include object models for distributed and renewable generation. Can be expanded for almost any application.

                  Enables new products, services and markets
                  Non conventional sensors with digital interface

                  Provides the power quality for a range of needs
                  Includes power quality monitoring models

                  Optimizes asset utilization and operating efficiency
                  Includes equipment (transformer, breaker) monitoring models

                  Operates resiliently to disturbances, attacks, and natural disasters
                  Based on reliable ISO and IETF transport profiles and includes specifications for redundancy, performance targets, and electrical network protection

                  Cyber security and physical security
                  Methods available using IEC 62351 to provide authenticated and encrypted data communications services

                  Communicating and coordinating across inter-system interfaces
                  Standards underway for substation-to-substation and substation-to-control-center communications (IEC 61850-90) 

                  Wide area situational awareness
                  Standards underway for substation-to-substation and substation-to-control-center communications (IEC 61850-90). Standards being developed along with IEEE C37.118 to use IEC 61850-8-1 and IEC 61850-9-2 for phasor measurement communications 

                  Smart grid-enabled response for energy demand
                  Based on IEC 61850-7-420 and planned extensions communication to energy generation as well as to controllable load / storage (e.g. electrical vehicles) possible

                  Electric storage
                  Work underway to expand models to include electric storage.

                  Distribution grid management
                  Applicable to both transmission and distribution substations. Work underway to address feeder automation specifically. 


                  Standards/Specification Referenced by IEC 61850     

                  •      ISO/IEC 7498 OSI Model
                  •      ISO/IEC 8824/8825 ASN.1
                  •      ISO/IEC 8822/8823/9576 Presentation Services and Protocols
                  •      ISO/IEC 8326/8327/9458 Session Services and Protocols
                  •      ISO/IEC 8072/8073/8602 Transport Services and Protocols
                  •      ISO/IEC 8348/8473 Network Services and Protocols
                  •      ISO/IEC 8649/8650/10035 ACSE
                  •      ISO/IEC 8802-3 Local and Metro Area Networks CSMA/CD (Ethernet, IEEE 802.3)
                  •      ISO/IEC ISP 11188 Minimal OSI upper layers
                  •      ISO/ISP 9506 Manufacturing Message Specification (MMS)
                  •      ISO/ISP 14226 MMS Profiles
                  •      RFC 793 TCP
                  •      RFC 768 UDP
                  •      Various other IETF standards related to TCP and UDP
                  •      RFC 1006 ISO Transport Services on top of TCP
                  •      RFC 2030 Simple Network Time Protocol
                  •      IEC 62351 Data Communications Security in Power Systems
                  Upcoming Enhancements in IEC 61850

                  •      IEC 61400-25 Wind Power
                  •       IEC 61850-7-4xx series, new applications like distributed generation
                  •      IEC 61850-80 series – interfaces with other protocols/domains 



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