Tools

“IEDs come with their respective programming tools so what more do we need?” Technology has provided a seemingly endless variety of software tools that we use on a daily basis and it’s easy to take them for granted.  That is at least until you don’t have them to help solve a problem. Early adopters were faced with the reality that only a handful of the products touting support of the IEC 61850 protocol were supported with software tools allowing complete device configuration by the utility.  This fact was discouraging to say the least, since so many times the interoperability demos seen at many events created a perception of a seemingly “plug and play” environment with the products. The reality is that even with the needed software tools, life at this stage of the game is anything but “plug and play.” Furthermore, IEDs which required vendor support for configuration changes are a major risk to the utilities and should therefore be avoided. 

Once the utility has the necessary IED configuration tools in hand, the challenge does not stop there. In order to pull it all together, the utility will need to carefully select a proper system configurator tool. This selection can be as daunting as selecting the IEDs themselves since it will also need to be interoperable with the IED configuration tools. Early adopters had few choices when it came to system configurator tools and the ones that were available, provided limited functionality in many cases. The good news is that today this is not the case. Utilities can procure these tools from the IED vendors as well as third parties which do not market IEDs.  

In addition to the IED configuration and system configurator tools, there is a need for a category of tools used for testing, not affiliated with the specific equipment vendors. These third party tools are need by utilities for engineering, testing, commissioning and maintenance of IEC 61850 based substation automation systems and many times will play the role of referee when problems are encountered.

Recommendations 

So what is the moral of this story you ask? Is this about the technology? Is this about which utility has the super cool knows all ends all best thing since sliced bread substation automation system design? Of course not!  It’s a given that no two utilities are going to have the same exact requirements or needs and that technology will continue to change at an even more rapid rate. Rather than provide utility or technology centric details that will become outdated quickly or not apply at all to your particular case, this article hopes to provide utilities, which are evaluating or in the early stages of migrating to the utilization of IEC 61850 or any new technology within the power system, advice based on other utilities’ experience which simply put will help mitigate risk. This advice can be summed up as follows:

• Map out the entire process and identify your utility’s potential areas of difficulty before you start and address these issues as much as possible up front and not as you go. There will always be a need to adjust and fine tune things along the way which is perfectly acceptable. Just try not to start a step when the endpoint is unknown.
• Telecommunications and IT support are critical to the project. The utility cannot afford to make every engineer an IT expert which is exactly what is needed to properly design, configure, and operate a substation network supporting this type of automation.
• All personnel that will work with, on, or around the substation automation system should understand basic networking and IEC 61850 concepts. On the job training will not be sufficient so set aside a budget specifically for training.
• Don’t overlook getting up front buy-in from all affected organizations.
• Waterfall vs. Iterative method? Consider borrowing a chapter out of the software engineering world and utilize an iterative approach. No matter how good your crystal ball is, you need to re-evaluate progress, refine requirements, and reset your compass a few times along the way.
• Don’t forget the utility needs outside the substation fence and consider utilizing a top-down modeling approach.
• Don’t assume anything will work “out of the box”. Device level, interoperability, and system level testing/verification is critical and should be done well in advance of system commissioning.
• A system specification document is critical and should be one of the first steps of the project. Don’t overlook the need for revision control of this document as well.
• Operation and maintenance procedures are essential to success and directly related to achieving the desired reliability. For safety sake alone, these are a must!
• Don’t assume the tools that come with your IEDs are going to be all that you need. Third party tools such as system configurators, network sniffers, protocol analyzers, network capable protection relay test systems, and fiber cable testers are a must.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for outside help.
• Lastly but perhaps the most important advice is that things will not always go as expected. Accept this fact, expect it to happen, and schedule accordingly.

With new technologies come new challenges, and while forging new territory might sound filled with glory, rarely does it not also come with its share of humbling reality.  Utilities migrating substation automation system designs based on the IEC 61850 standards will no doubt expect to face challenges associated with adopting new technology. What may not be expected is that they will also be faced with the challenges associated with changing the methods used to design these systems. And while the path is not painless, it does offer opportunities for the open-minded to learn and leverage new tools and new ways of doing business.