Smart grid communications standard IEC 61850 helps future-proof investments

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By Ron Willoughby

National and local news outlets suggest smart grid is the “consumer-to-grid” interface at the smart meter. Those of us intimately involved in the industry know there’s a whole lot more than meets the eye here. Yet the “mainstream” media focus serves as a good reminder. When it comes to the public—and by extension, the regulators and politicians that serve them—it’s up to us, the industry, to make the business case for smart grid initiatives and to en

KEMA is offering a one-day training course on leveraging IEC 61850 communications protocols for substation automation on Sept. 29 in Raleigh, N.C.            Get the details >>

sure today’s smart grid investments yield cost, service and sustainability benefits well into the future.

“Future-proofing” smart grid investments starts with smart integration, interoperability and optionality—building an infrastructure from the meter to the generator with enough flexibility to maximize future benefits. To paraphrase my KEMA colleague Rob Wilhite, technology is not outdated if it still performs the function it was purchased to do. But consumers and regulators will want to make sure the smart grid system can be maintained with new components and equipment that fully integrate with the old.

A cost-effective, open solution

Upstream from smart meter and AMI pieces, success of plug-and-play depends on how well components “talk” to each other. Our European colleagues are already using IEC 61850 data communication standards to a great advantage, and these lessons learned offer utilities and stakeholders in the United States opportunities for the way we do things. Standardized communication provides a cost-effective, open solution for the utility industry, with IEC 61850-specific benefits including optimizing systems for efficient and reliable data transfer, establishing designs for use over a high-speed network, and providing for operational advantages.

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Developed out of UCA (Utility Communications Architecture), the IEC standard applies to utility data communications digitally transmitted among metering, protection, control, transformers, and switching devices within and between substations. IEC 61850 is a standard language that enables grid component vendors to produce interoperable plug-and-play equipment.

In the United States, equipment manufacturers are making equipment IEC 61850-ready, but most utilities have yet to standardize on this protocol. KEMA has been working with forward-looking utilities across the United States, that have already been engaged in better understanding IEC 61850 and leveraging the protocol to enhance substation and distribution automation investments. More utilities need to be willing to follow suit to significantly move forward. As pressures mount to make multi-vendor equipment "talk" seamlessly to each other, the pressures for using IEC 61850 will continue to increase. This "smart grid movement" is a major motivator.

Ron Willoughby is Vice President of KEMA, Inc., which is a leading authority in energy consulting and testing and certification.

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