WPDA conference focused on  the issues of automation and control of power system substations.

The WPDA Conference was held from 13 to 15 April, 2010.

The 12th Annual Western Power Delivery Automation Conference was held at the historical Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington, USA. One of the advantages of this conference is that there are no parallel sessions, i.e. all attendees can be present at the presentation and discussions of each of the conference papers. Focusing the program on basic technologies, foundations for automation, applications of technology and the gained experience from case studies provides a variety of points of view that helps the attendees to expand their knowledge and understanding of the issues of power system automation and its application. Thus the conference is helpful for individuals interested in the design and implementation of substation communication networks, the changing electric power industry, developments in protocols for substation and power system automation.

The conference started with a keynote session. The keynote speaker was Stephen J. Wright, Bonneville Power Administration, who talked about How Governmental Initiatives are Reshaping the Utility Industry (and how BPA is responding). Papers on the changing utility industry and synchrophasor applications followed in the opening session. The second session was dedicated to different aspects of the application of IEC 61850 in substation automation systems. System security and the development of smart distribution systems were discussed during the two paper sessions of the second day of the conference.

The last session of the conference was dedicated to case studies – one of the very important ways of convincing the industry that the new technology is working, and maybe because of that most of the papers were on the use of IEC 61850. Wide area measurements applications and the use of GPRS for power automation were also discussed.

The reception and the coffee breaks gave an opportunity to the attendees to see the latest devices and software tools and discuss with the manufacturers' engineers their applications for power delivery automation.    

The paper sessions were followed by a vendor sponsored reception providing opportunities for discussions