by Peter Bishop, Transpower NZ Ltd, New Zealand
News from CIGRE Study Committee B5 Protection and Automation
The 2026 CIGRE Paris Session will take place from 23 to 28 August 2026. Registrations to attend the session are now open at Registration | Session CIGRE. The B5 Study Committee (SC) meeting will be held during this week. For the General Discussion Meeting, SC B5 is presently reviewing 132 submitted papers. The two preferential subjects of B5 are the following:
- PS1: Knowledge management in the field of protection, automation, control, metering and monitoring:
- Knowledge and skills and their preservation
- Education, training and life-long learning of students, young professionals, academics and manufacturer and utility personnel
- Platforms, methodology, tools and support for documentation and educational delivery
- PS2: Protection and control in networks with unconventional sources:
- Best practices and regulatory and performance requirements for protection and control in networks dominated by unconventional sources, including wind and solar generation, battery storage, HVDC links and other converter-based devices
- Lessons learned and field experience with protection and control in networks dominated by unconventional sources, including fault-ride through and transient behavior
- New developments in protection and fault response control of unconventional sources
Two new B5 working groups have been approved and member nominations are being sought via national committees:
- B5.90 “Guidelines for commissioning and testing of fully digital PACS”
- B5.91 “Monitoring and Diagnostic of PACS in Digital Substation”
A third working group (Anti-Islanding Protection for Distributed Generation: Challenges, Systemic Impact and Recommendations) is expected to be approved soon.
Working Group B5.82 (Experience gained and Recommendations for Implementation of Process Bus in Protection, Automation and Control) has completed its work and the Technical Brochure is now published as TB 977. This Technical Brochure is an update to the 2014 WG B5.40 report (TB 599) stemming from profound changes that have swept through the power sector. The last decade has witnessed the accelerated deployment of renewable energy resources, the reinforcement of grid resilience, and the emergence of new grid development goals — most notably, achieving net-zero carbon targets while enhancing reliability, safety, and security. Such developments require a re-evaluation of educational needs and forward-looking strategies. The brochure can be downloaded free of charge by CIGRE members from the e-Cigre web site TB977 | eCIGRE and can be purchased by non-members.
CIGRE SC B5 will participate with other study committees at the 2027 CIGRE Symposium in Heidelberg from April 26 – 30, 2027. Then from 20 to 23 September 2027 the SC B5 Colloquium (and annual meeting) will be held, associated with the 2027 CIGRE Canadian Conference in Toronto (Canada).
IEC Technical Committee 57 (power system management and associated information exchange) have established a ‘category A’ liaison with CIGRE SC B5. With increasing deployment of IEC 61850 based PACS (Protection, Automation and Control Systems) including fully digital systems using process bus and the associated engineering and maintenance a liaison with IEC TC 57 is considered invaluable for the work of B5. This also formalizes already existing links and collaborations.
SC B5 supports the upcoming 2026 International Conference on Smart Grid Synchronized
Measurements and Analytics (SGSMA) from June 1-4 in Santiago de Chile (SGSMA 2026) and the 2026 PAC World Conference from June, 22-25 in Delft Netherlands (PAC World Conference 2026).
More regular posting of SC B5 events and news is now occurring on the updated CIGRE SC B5 Linkedin page – CIGRE SC B5: Overview | LinkedIn
Biography:
Peter Bishop is aPrincipal Protection and Automation Engineer at Transpower NZ Ltd, the transmission utility in New Zealand.
He is a chartered member of Engineering New Zealand and a Chartered Professional Engineer in New Zealand. Since graduating in 1989, Peter has gained experience in power system protection & automation engineering support for a transmission utility and protection manufacturer. He is now Secretary for CIGRE Study Committee B5, after being the Australia regular member. In 2022 Peter received the CIGRE Technical Council Award for Study committee B5.
