IEC 61850 models for DERs maintenance and mappings
b y Tom Berry, Schneider-Electric
IEC TC 57 WG 17 is in charge of power system intelligent electronic device communication and associated data models for microgrids, distributed energy resources and distribution automation.
Maintenance: The second edition of IEC 61850-7-420 was published in 2021. Like other parts of the IEC 61850 series, user feedback on technical issues related to the published document is managed via a publicly accessible web site. A batch of Tissues and associated corrigenda documents is being prepared for part 7-420 and part 90-6.
IEC TC 57 WG 17 have proposed a new technical report part 7-520 to illustrate application examples using the logical nodes defined in part 7-420. Much of this material was prepared in parallel with part 7-420 Ed 2, but due to lack of volunteers and time had not been circulated earlier. At the same time, part 90-9 will be revised.
This document describes use cases and examples related to energy storage systems. The descriptions of data models in part 90-9 will be replaced by references to part 7-420. The revision will also include a review of terms and definitions to align them with terms defined in IEC 62933-1:2024 Electrical energy storage (EES) systems – Vocabulary.
Mappings (1): (Frances Cleveland writes …) IEEE Std 1815.2-2025 was published by the IEEE on February 5, 2026. It establishes a semantic Standard Profile based on IEC 61850-7-420 semantics for Communications with Distributed Energy Resources (DER) using IEEE Std 1815, IEEE Standard for Electric Power Systems Communications – Distributed Network Protocol (DNP3). The DER systems may be distribution-connected, transmission-connected, or stand-alone.
The IEEE 1815.2 Profile is “a high-level data model for DER communications, based on selected data objects from IEC 61850-7-420:2021 mapped to a fixed list of DNP3 data points.
The data objects needed for many DER and inverter-base resources (IBRs) functions, including those in IEEE Std 1547™-2018, IEEE Std 2800™-2022, and IEEE Std 1547.9™-2022, as well as additional functions needed for storage systems, are also specified. In addition, a mapping to detailed equipment-related data objects, including meters, DER units, inverters, and batteries, is provided. The profile is presented in both a written and an electronic format (IEEE 1815.2 Profile Companion Data Point Tables) for ease of implementation.”
Mappings (2): Work has progressed on mapping the IEC 61850 data models for DER including their operational functions to the Common Information Model (CIM) used by IEC 61970 for control center information exchanges. This has been complicated by the need to propose extensions to the CIM to model more sophisticated automation and control functions. These proposals are now being adopted by the CIM working groups for the next edition of the IEC 61970 series.
In February, two questionnaires and associated draft documents on CIM-61850 harmonization have been circulated by the IEC to National Committees. The first is proposing a revision to the existing technical specification IEC 62361-102. This proposes to convert it to a full International Standard.
It includes some updates and proposals that would enable the export of CIM based models as the basis for IEC 61850 System Specification Documents (SSD).
In addition, there is a proposal for a new technical specification IEC 62361-105 “CIM – IEC 61850 harmonization for automation and protection.” This is focused on the specific issues of energy resource operational functions and a high-level view of protection functions. This will allow CIM model-based studies of grid level system integrity schemes to have a closer correspondence to the real-world implementations based on IEC 61850.
Biography:
Tom Berry studied Electrical Engineering at Bath University, UK. For the last 25 years he has worked for Schneider Electric in the UK and France.
Tom has worked on control center projects integrating SCADA systems within dispatch training simulators, transmission and distribution network management systems. He now works “closer to the edge” as a software architect for feeder automation RTUs. He is a member of several IEC TC57 WGs and the editor of IEC TS 62361-102 technical report on CIM-61850 harmonization.
