by Peter Bishop, Transpower NZ Ltd, New Zealand
News from CIGRE Study Committee B5 Protection and Automation
The CIGRE 2026 Paris Session took place from 23 to 28 August 2026, with a record of more than 5400 registered delegates from 96 countries. There was also a record number of contributions, each offering fresh insights across a wide range of disciplines. Study Committee (SC) B5 hosted:
- Two preferential subject discussion sessions
- PS1 Knowledge management in the field of protection, automation, control, metering and monitoring (54 papers, 44 accepted prepared contributions, special reporters: Mladen Kezunovic (US) and Caitlin Short (US))
- PS2 Protection and control in networks with unconventional sources (67 papers, 58 prepared contributions, special reporter: John Wright (UK))
- A tutorial (The advancement of PACS architectures with focus on process bus implementation and virtualization of protection IEDs)
- A joint workshop (Digitalization of Switchgear and Substations – Implementation experience and integration with the Protection World)
- Poster sessions for PS1 and PS2 (chair: Di Liu (UK))
- Our annual committee meeting.
The papers and the contributions prepared of the discussion sessions will be available soon on the eCIGRE site.
In the annual meeting, SC B5 chose two preferential subjects, which will be proposed for the 2028 Paris Session of B5:
- Experiences and perspectives on the evolution towards virtualised and centralised Protection, Automation and Control System
- Protection, Automation and Control System monitoring data for assets and system supervision
Three new working groups were also voted to be started as follows:
- Guideline for the design of IEC 61850 PACS Network architecture
- Protection Requirements for Specifying Source Fault Response
- Pragmatic Application of Artificial Intelligence Tools in Design, Commissioning, Operation and Life Cycle
Management of Protection, Automation and Control Systems
The Terms of Reference (ToRs) documents are being drafted. A call for members for each group will be circulated after approval by the Technical Council chair.
Several SC B5 awards were made during the Paris session:
- The Technical Council Award 2024 for B5 “Protection and Automation” has been granted by the Chair of the Technical Council to Kazuhiro Enomoto (JP)
- The CIGRE Honorary Member award this year has been granted to Richard Adams (UK)
- The CIGRE Fellow Award this year has been granted to Nirmal Nair (NZ)
- A Distinguished Member award 2026 for B5 “Protection and Automation” members has been granted to John Wright (GB).
- The 2026 SC B5 Outstanding Service Award was presented to Peter Bishop (NZ)
CIGRE SC B5 will participate with other study committees at the 2027 CIGRE Symposium in Heidelberg (Germany) 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).
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.
