International White Book on DER Protection : Review and Testing Procedures

This white book provides an insight into the issues surrounding the impact of increasing levels of DER on the generator and network protection and the resulting necessary improvements in protection testing practices. Particular focus is placed on ever increasing inverter-interfaced DER installations and the challenges of utility network integration. This white book should also serve as a starting point for specifying DER protection testing requirements and procedures. A comprehensive review of international DER protection practices, standards and recommendations is presented. This is accompanied by the identifi cation of the main performance challenges related to these protection schemes under varied network operational conditions and the nature of DER generator and interface technologies. Emphasis is placed on the importance of dynamic testing that can only be delivered through laboratory-based platforms such as real-time simulators, integrated substation automation infrastructure and fl exible, inverter-equipped testing microgrids. To this end, the combination of fl exible network operation and new DER technologies underlines the importance of utilising the laboratory testing facilities available within the DERlab Network of Excellence. This not only informs the shaping of new protection testing and network integration practices by end users but also enables the process of de-risking new DER protection technologies. In order to support the issues discussed in the white paper, a comparative case study between UK and German DER protection and scheme testing practices is presented. This also highlights the level of complexity associated with standardisation and approval mechanisms adopted by different countries

A methodology for performance and compatibility evaluation of an all-digital substation protection system

A power system protection system consists, at least, of an instrument trans- former, a protective device (relay), and a circuit breaker. Conventional instrument transformers bring currents and voltages from power network levels to much lower scaled-down replicas that serve as input signals to protective relays. The relay's function is to measure input signals (or a relationship among them in some cases) and compare them to defined operating characteristic thresholds (relay settings) to quickly decide whether to operate associated circuit breaker(s). Existing protection systems within a substation are based on a hardwired interface between instrument transformers and protective relays. Recent development of electronic instrument transformers and the spread of digital relays allow the development of an all-digital protection system, in which the traditional analog interface has been replaced with a digital signal connected to digital relays through a digital communication link (process bus). Due to their design, conventional instrument transformers introduce distortions to the current and voltage signal replicas. These distortions may cause protective relays to misoperate. On the other hand, non-conventional instrument transformers promise distortion-free replicas, which, in turn, should translate into better relay performance. Replacing hardwired signals with a communication bus also reduces the significant cost associated with copper wiring. An all-digital system should provide compatibility and interoperability so that different electronic instrument transformers can be connected to different digital relays (under a multi-vendor connection) Since the novel all-digital system has never been implemented and/or tested in practice so far, its superior performance needs to be evaluated. This thesis proposes a methodology for performance and compatibility evaluation of an all-digital protection system through application testing. The approach defines the performance indices and compatibility indices as well as the evaluation methodology

EV integration in smart grids through interoperability solutions

The high total cost of ownership and the uncertainties surrounding battery reliability are still the main barriers for electric vehicle (EV) market take off in Europe. Storage evolution, leading to both price reduction and performance improvement, is a huge technical challenge in the medium-long term. In the meantime, new business models and market niche developments might play a facilitator role for EV deployment by tackling the economic gap between conventional ICE and electromobility (e-mobility) solutions. Based on the analysis of the state of the art, this paper considers new business model aspects, but with an especial focus on smart grid integration and interoperability. Available solutions for electro-mobility are sketched out and presented according to the Smart Grid Architecture Model (SGAM), giving hints on regulation, business, services, components and communication and information. The smart grid integration of EVs is highly dependent on the interoperability of e-mobility solutions with electric network management procedures. In addition, it is expected that the interoperability between different e-mobility developments results in lower prices and extended services availability for final users. This makes this subject to be of great importance at international level. To achieve this, it is necessary to be able to assess interoperability, not only at the level of physical systems but at all domains, including stakeholder interactions in the frame of a broad diversity of services, business models and regulatory schemes. COTEVOS project aim is to help tackle this challenge.EC FP

On reliability and performance analyses of IEC 61850 for digital SAS

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Automation, Protection and Control of Substation Based on IEC 61850

Reliability of power system protection system has been a key issue in the substation operation due to the use of multi-vendor equipment of proprietary features, environmental issues, and complex fault diagnosis. Failure to address these issues could have a significant effect on the performance of the entire electricity grid. With the introduction of IEC 61850 standard, substation automation system (SAS) has significantly altered the scenario in utilities and industries as indicated in this thesis

Horisontaalisen kommunikoinnin sovelluksia teollisessa sähkönjakeluverkossa

The amount of information generated in substation automation systems has grown exponentially since the introduction of Intelligent Electrical Devices (IED). Until recent years substation communication between IEDs was realized with proprietary protocols. This led to communication problems in systems with IEDs from different vendors. The IEC 61850 standard was introduced in order to harmonize substation communication and gain interoperability. The IEC 61850 is an international standard defining communication networks and systems in substations. The standard defines substation functions, communication services and communication between devices as independent units. Thus the standard provides an opportunity for redefinition if technology in one area develops. The standard divides substation communication into three levels. This study focuses on horizontal GOOSE communication between IEDs in bay level and its applications. Horizontal communication has conventionally been solved by hardwiring required information between devices. GOOSE communication enables the transmission of these signals via Ethernet network, therefore creating a system that is more easily expandable and reducing the need of hardwiring. The purpose of this work is to provide information for ABB Process Industry Plc concerning IEC 61850 and GOOSE. The substance of IEC 61850 and horizontal communication are presented in the theory chapters. The applications of GOOSE were examined in order to get more practical results. The applications were selected based on the capabilities of recently introduced REF615 IED. Each application is first described in general, followed by an example solution with REF615 IEDs. A fault arc protection application was selected for further testing based on an upcoming customer project. This application was configured between two REF615 IEDs and the functionality of the application was confirmed before the customer project was initiated. /Kir1

Substation automation systems and IEC 61850: interoperability testing

Dissertação de mest., Engenharia Electrónica e Telecomunicações, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2011The Substation Automation System (SAS) is the backbone of the Energy Power System (EPS) and IEC 61850 is becoming its single most important standard. This is a world wide accepted standard that is being adopted by the industry in order to provide for all current and future needs. This standard defines not only the communication protocols but also its own Substation Configuration Language (SCL) and even best practices for related engineering processes. In order to keep up with the current fast technological developments the substation data model is separated from the communication protocols allowing both to be changed without affecting each other. Also defined in the standard is an extensive conformance testing procedure in order to guarantee that different vendors interpret and implement the standard correctly. The substation and its SAS must undergo thourough testing procedures specificaly in the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) and Site Acceptance Test (SAT). The conformance tests insures that the SAS devices, the Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs), conform to the same standard but on its own does not guarantee its interoperability. An automated testing tool capable of, quickly and easily, testing the SAS functions (IEDs interoperability) provides significant savings in both time and money to the testing process. This work aim is to develop such a tool, capable of interoperability testing. In order to achieve such big accomplishment this initial work focus on only two of the most used functions of the SAS: switching and interlocking. A simulation model, built on top of OMNeT++, for both the IEDs and the substation was developed. In this work an initial stage prototype with an IED simulation model capable of communicating with real devices will be developed. In a later stage, postponed for future work, the substation simulation model will be extended in order to include real-time interaction with external devices that emulate the substation switchgear

Interfacing IEC 61850-9-2 Process Bus Data to a Simulation Environment

IEC 61850 – Communication and networks in substations is the standard for building communication infrastructure between the different Intelligent Electronic devices (IEDs) in the substation automation system. It consists of several parts which include Specific Communication and Service Mapping for the transmission of sampled values (defined in part 9–2 of the standard). The Sampled value communication is a high speed, time critical Ethernet based communication for the transfer of data over the network. It defines the sampling rate and time synchronization requirement of the system. The main purpose of this thesis is to extract sampled value data (four voltages, four currents) from a PCAP data file captured over the network in the ‘Sundom Smart Grid’ environment and convert the data into the format needed for analysis on PSCAD simulation tool. This thesis serves as an interface between the real Smart Grid environment and the test environment in the University of Vaasa. This thesis explains fundamental concepts that relate to IEC 61850, and the Sampled Value in particular. It describes the frame structure of sampled value and a software application has been developed based on WinPcap Application Program Interface (API) to extract the data points needed and fulfill the data format requirement of the PSCAD which is adaptable for use in MATLAB.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Advanced laboratory testing methods using real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop techniques : a survey of smart grid international research facility network activities

The integration of smart grid technologies in interconnected power system networks presents multiple challenges for the power industry and the scientific community. To address these challenges, researchers are creating new methods for the validation of: control, interoperability, reliability of Internet of Things systems, distributed energy resources, modern power equipment for applications covering power system stability, operation, control, and cybersecurity. Novel methods for laboratory testing of electrical power systems incorporate novel simulation techniques spanning real-time simulation, Power Hardware-in-the-Loop, Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop, Power System-in-the-Loop, and co-simulation technologies. These methods directly support the acceleration of electrical systems and power electronics component research by validating technological solutions in high-fidelity environments. In this paper, members of the Survey of Smart Grid International Research Facility Network task on Advanced Laboratory Testing Methods present a review of methods, test procedures, studies, and experiences employing advanced laboratory techniques for validation of range of research and development prototypes and novel power system solutions