1

Exploring Control Systems to implement SMART

GRID solutions

Mahsoom Ahmed ABBUK, Olusola Osinowo EDF EnergyUK, Jonathan Leucci

ABBUK

Due to the generation and state of the network, the existing

Keywords: Control System, IEC61850, SMART communication infrastructure allows for a limited number of
status signals to reach the control centre/substation. Network
Abstract
status information is passed from process measurements by

This paper discusses the topic of Control Systems within the means of traditional communication mediums, this information

Electricity industry. Distributed, Centralised, Regional are a becomes scarce and more difficult to obtain as the network

small example of the varied types discussed. The purpose is to expands from Control Centre to Primary Substation to Secondary

define the solution for a specific problem/requirement Substation and onwards. This makes it difficult for the high level

utilising the appropriate architecture of a 'Control System', of automation in place to achieve a good level of automated

rather than proposing a control system and tailoring the control and management of the network in question, especially

requirement accordingly. beyond the primary substation. It is possible to improve on this

management of network by implementing an

One such requirement is of the AuRA-NMS project, a intelligent/sophisticated State Estimation (SE) at the Control

research, development and design industrial-academic Level. The negative effects of this are that with a changing

collaboration, a smart grid solution; Which aims to provide network (upgrades, reductions, and evolution) the SE requires

electrical network control at differing levels and varying updating to match the changing network. Additionally any precise

degrees of communication technology with a single 'Control and timely control of a network relies on accurate network

System' approach solution. Utilising the recognised IEC information, there is no better form than measurements relayed

standard 61850, substation automation, more specifically from the network points/levels to the Control point, especially

communication. Providing network control and automated considering the element of uncertainty introduced given that the

response at all levels, from NCC to lED, with a centralised SE provides probable results/estimations. But acquiring this

system. The use of standards allows integration of multilevel information requires investment into a long or short term

equipment, both now and in future. communication technology which meets current standards and is
future proof, such standards as IEC61850, Substation

Utilising existing communications infrastructure to support Communication. The cost of this investment compared to that of

the advanced smart solution offers its challenges, with the benefits is relatively minor, considering that the benefits

restricted bandwidth and delays. Nevertheless with the mentioned are a short term gain in achieving the reinforcement

correct ground work and approach this is achievable, with the network requires.

standard IEC61850 communication between points. The

opportunity arises for the Network to improve the An example of a project which attempts to achieve such a Control

communications gradually, with long term vision and Solution with the limitations of network infrastructure and

benefits, without impeding on the operation of the existing benefits of utilising recognised standards with proficient

network. The cost benefits for the network far outweigh the techniques is the AuRA-NMS project, Autonomous Regional

short term investment. Active Network Management System. The AuRA-NMS

collaboration was established to help devise and trial-deploy

1 Introduction practical solutions to challenges being faced by operators of the

UK distribution power networks as result of changes in

The Electricity industry for years has consisted of automated generation & load profiles caused by advancing technologies,

monitoring (restricted) of the network status and primarily ageing network assets, and government targets/policies. As such,

manual control, with some automated local control (Protection the project aimed to further develop innovative concepts; their

etc). Control being defined as automated operation of the network practical application now collectively termed 'SMART Grids'.

to return it to normal operating conditions and taking into The project represents a strategic RD&D collaboration between

consideration, but not restricted to, areas such as Voltage ABB, EDF Energy, Scottish Power, OFGEM, EPSRC,

excursions, maximising a balance of network voltages and Universities of Durham, Strathclyde, Manchester, Edinburgh,

currents, Automated repair of the network, balance of supply and Loughborough, Cardiff, Bath, and Imperial College London,

generation (also within locality). pursuing 'SMART Grid' concepts. AuRA-NMS represents an
extendable and agnostic solution whereby software functions are
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added to address a particular network challenge, e.g. integrating Virus's Introduced by unprotected
DG, managing constraints, etc. Agent software spreads engineering/operator stations
functionality across geographically discrete hardware platforms, Virus's introduced over a poorly protected
as is a level of control devolved from the Network Control Centre network
(NCC) and spread over network regions, comprising several Intruders hacking/attack via unrestricted access
primary substations in which the hardware platforms are situated. areas
Intruders hacking/attack via poorly protected
2 Control Systems as SMART' Agents' networks
Access to un-trained personnel
(a) Control Systems appear in many shapes and forms and vary
from industry to industry (Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical, Chemical, Many countermeasures are widely available and can be put in
Power, Utility, etc), and have been available for over a century. place to restrict any of the above, but beyond that, any consumer
The most basic form to a Control System is the automated control implementing an intelligent system must be aware of the effects
of a closed loop with possible operator interaction (manual of such attacks. The list is endless, but a taste of the results are
intervention and setpoint assignment). provided below:
Control Systems consist of a few fundamental components, 2417
operating, Control Processor (single/redundant modes), Unscheduled shutdown of System or Network
Engineering/Operator station, Network Control Bus and Process
interface (4-20mA, 24VDC, Serial Communications, Ethernet, Erratic and dangerous behaviour of Network control
Etc). The Control System takes on many names, some of which points
are stated below, and has a varied group of manufactures.
Interpretation of what a Control System is differs, for this paper, Loss of Automatic and Manual Control of network
as long as the above criteria are met/available there is no room for
exclusion only discussion. Corruption of data held, both historic and current

PLC's (Programmable Logic Controller) * Component (b)A SMART Grid is an electricity network that can intelligently
DCS (Distributed Control System) integrate the actions of all users connected to it - generators,
Stable Processing Platform consumers and those that do both - in order to efficiently deliver a
PCS (Process Control System) sustainable, efficient and secure supply of energy. [I]
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) A Smart network has the ability to take all the measurement and
RTU (Remote Terminal Units) * Component control information off the network and interpret it to provide an
HMI (Human Machine Interface) *Component efficient and sustained network, meeting the consumer's demands
without unjustly stretching the networks capacity.
The Control Bus, dependent on the application, relies heavily on Integrating the information in an intelligent manner so that
the communication architecture available. For a Green Field decisions can be made and actions taken to remedy/relieve/sustain
application, this isn't as much of an issue as any requirement for the network is a fairly crucial part of the Smart Grid, this comes
communication can be designed and installed during the in the form of a 'Control System'. The Control System, as
installation phase of the project where costs have already been discussed earlier, comes in many forms but primarily is required
allocated. But for any Brown Field project where only the Control to read the network information, interpret and digest such that any
System is being replaced or updated, then there are a wide range 'abnormal' conditions are seen and act on.
of restrictions that may apply, especially within the Electricity
industry and furthermore with geographically distributed 2.1 Centralised Control
measurement and control points required for the control system.
The type issues mentioned earlier and discussed in detail later are The intelligence of the Control System is centralised to one
aspects of remote plant which require control but have no real location, i.e. a Substation or Control Centre. The centralised
means of communication, either back to the centralised system or controller receives measurement/control information from the
interaction for the distributed system. network, from various points, relayed via hardwired or other
transmission medium.
Within the electricity sector as Control Systems expand beyond The centralized controller receives information from multiple
just the Network Control Centre then, as well as providing an measurement devices and, once processed, generates the
excellent base for a SMARTer solution covering areas of the opportune outputs/commands for the relevant control devices
network which previously utilised manual/operator control, the (Tap position, Breaker position, frequency control).
Intelligent Control System is open to far greater security risks. The advantage of this system is to have central processing; it has
These Security risks come from both from the outside world and a high reliability rate and is simple in its configuration. But the
locally in many forms: system is restricted to one geographic location, any remote
process locations are required to pass the measurement/control
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information back to the central location in raw format. Figure 1 2.3 Regional Control
below gives an indication of such a system.
Regional Control Systems are not too different from those of
Distributed, the main differing factor being that the system uses
open architecture structure rather than proprietary vendor
architecture. Open standards and protocols are used to give
distributed functionality across a WAN network rather than LAN.
Standard Internet Protocols (lP) are used to communicate
between the system and other communication devices. This also
opens up the opportunity to connect 'new to old' technology,
especially in the Electrical industry where many systems from
previous generations exist and are not quite ready for a change
Measurement/Control Information
out. It also paves the way for adopting industry standards, which
benefit and evolve with the systems, standards such as the
Figure 1. Centralised Control
IEC61850 which is the international standard for substation
automation systems. It defines the communication between
devices in the substation and the related system requirements. It
2.2 Distributed Control
supports all substation automation functions and their engineering
[2].
A truly distributed control system has little or no boundaries, all
of the intelligence of the system is distributed creating a LAN,
2.5 Control System & AuRA-NMS
thus having the possibility of localised control of several
geographically distributed areas, i.e. several substations, control
Within the AuRA-NMS project a 'best fit' solution is adopted,
centre etc, but being considered as one control system. The
which can be best described to be a regional based control
greatest limitation and risk of such a system is the means of
system. There are 3 main purposes and advantages to this
communication utilised and its reliability. Typical communication
selection:
mediums considered are copper based cable, fibre and wireless
technology; of course the selection is based upon distance and
Use of Open Architecture structure such that existing
any existing infrastructure.
and new technology can be integrated, utilising current
standards (i.e.OPC-IEC61850)
As the processing is distributed across multiple locations, over
vendor proprietary LAN technology and information passed in
Implementation over a distributed area, with little or no
real time, each station is responsible for tasks in its particular
existing communications infrastructure (opening up to
area. With the benefit of any or all information being available to
Open Architecture)
all other areas, especially those with OperatorlHMI access.
Additionally processing of information is spread across multiple
Selection of unique project components (hardware and
areas, with measurement and control information passed at local
software platforms) which are required to integrate to
levels. Figure 2 presents a typical structure of a Distributed
provide a SMART solution
Control System. These are typical implementations for process
industries such as Chemical and Oil & Gas.
As the network evolves and grows, there is a requirement for the
AuRA-NMS project to evolve and grow along with the network,
as well as meeting the 'moving of goal posts' typical to a research
project. This requirement suits a regional control system as
additional and varying components, whether they be hard
platforms or soft solutions, will constantly be added to the
solution. The open architecture works well with such a
requirement. Interoperability - the capacity for devices from
various manufacturers to work together - is vital to the realization
of a network-based Smart Grid solution [3].

Within the project, as part of the deployment of the solution, it is

clear that there is little means of communication between the
distributed points, and where there is, it is reserved for existing
systems. Any new method of communication will need to meet
restricted budget and physical restriction requirements, hence the
Figure 2. Distributed Control
need for an open architecture system. Figure 3 depicts the AuRA-
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NMS project architecture and portrays an example of a Regional integrated in-house or factory acceptance testing. With this
Control System. testing it is possible to reduce the risk and time scale of a small to
medium substation automation project. IEC61850 enables
optimised testing using its inherent features (self description
names, application semantics standardised, SCL configuration

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S".,-b S=
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Areax � language). Complete offline tests of the system can be performed
with the selection of appropriate simulation tools (considering
ADSL (IEC61850)
any missing devices) and use of specific tests such as Analysis of
61850 messages on LAN/WAN and Time stamp accuracy.
IEC61850 allows automated system testing, thus reducing time,

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cost and reduction in any scheduled substation downtime [6] .
Below is given an example of time and cost saving:

AB lED _

Seco station A Utility with 300 substations now performs 5

automation projects per year
Life-cycle of Control System 20 years = 300/20 =

15 automation projects/year
Possible solution:
o 3 times more engineers (when available)

Figure 3. AuRA-NMS o 3 times faster project execution and testing

This same policy is adopted for the AuRA-NMS project, with

3 lEe 61850 Standard Communication integrated hardware and software testing of the system prior to
delivery to site, with further additional rigorous software

The object-oriented data model of IEC 61850 defines all objects simulation testing, considering test case scenarios.

in the substation environment that communicate with each other. The pre site deployment testing ensures full integration is

These so-called Logical Nodes contain the data and attributes of achieved and any fundamental issues are dealt with at an early

the respective objects. The data model uses terminology familiar stage. Furthermore IEC61850 and project objectives are

to any power system engineer. Clear rules facilitate extensions in demonstrated as being achieved at an early stage, overcoming the

applications. The communication procedures are described by the need for such fundamental questions arising during site trials.

seven-layer ISO/OSI model, called stack. The selected stack is

MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) over TCP/IP and 3.2 Existing Communication

Ethernet as used in mainstream communication medium. It is the

use of mainstream protocols that allows standards to benefit from One of the greatest obstacles the electricity industry faces is the

fast advancing communication technologies. The performance advancement of their existing communication infrastructure at

and safety requirements dedicated to substation automation are Substation level. As well as Utilities having adopted many forms

considered. The data model and the communication stack are of communication with no consistency and standard, the

linked by means of a standardized mapping, which is the only infrastructure is varied with mixed legacy equipment, whether it

item to be adapted in case changes in communication technology is a bespoke or standard application of a certain generation, which

are implemented. This has no impact on the functions and is obsolete but active. Overcoming this lacking is something that

databases in the system employed to fulfil the requirement [4]. will take a huge amount of investment by the utilities, but to
achieve SMART applications at a substation level, this

Many advantages are gained from the use of this developing investment is essential.

standard within substation automation, a few of which are stated Ethernet is an example of the type of technology Utilities should

below [5]: aim towards. The industry faces a challenge since most
substations are not equipped with native Ethernet connectivity,

Reduction of Wiring Costs and mUltiplexers deployed in those substations in years past do

Flexible programming (independent of wiring) not have Ethernet ports [7].

Reliability - Link status

High Performance with more data Temporary technology is available in many forms to overcome

New benefits not cost effective with hardwired systems this lacking for a certain duration, but eventually the investment
is required.

3.1 Testing
This lacking is overcome by the AuRA-NMS project, in utilising

It is proposed that for any successful project deployment that pre existing low investment solutions, to achieve the solution

site installation testing must take place. This takes the form of required. Solutions such as the use of GPRS remote technology,
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or ADSL over existing BT lines, both achieving the bandwidth Acknowledgements

and speed required.
The authors wish to acknowledge their industrial partners, namely
4 Cost Benefits Peter Lang of EDF Energy and Patrick Dolan of Scottish Power.

Let us review the cost benefits of implementing a SMART

solution versus the cost of improving the network where little or References
no SMART type solution is required, excluding effective [I] Smarter Grids: the opportunity December 2009. Online:
management of the Grid. www.decc.gov.uk
[2] IEC61850 Definition. Online: 61850.com
The short term gain from installing a SMART Grid solution is
[3]Building a Smarter Grid: Need for Interoperability,
better management and use of an existing network. The cost
Transmission and Distribution world. Online : www.tdworld.com
benefits are great and achievable with a relatively small amount
[4] ABB: Approach of IEC61850. Online: ABB.com
of investment, where results can be seen fairly quickly. The
[5] Benefits of IEC61850 Networking, Ralph Mackiewicz of
question is once the SMART solution is at its optimum operation,
Sisco Inc.
and more is required from the grid (with growing energy
[6] Automated acceptance testing of IEC61850 based substation
requirements), what is to be done? The familiar solution to this is
automation & protection systems. Richard Schimmel of Kema.
to improve and expand the physical network, implementing a
[7] RAD Spotlights Ethernet Access Solutions for the Electricity
sufficient backbone in order to meet the demands of such an
Industry at Smart Grids Summit 2009. Online:
expanding network.
www.raddata.co.uk

The AuRA-NMS project can be taken as an example where

relatively small investment has been made in attempting to
achieving a SMART Grid solution, to demonstrate the
effectiveness of such an implementation in reducing downtime,
managing the network and providing cost saving.

5 Trial Deployment

At the time of writing this paper, ABB along with EDF Energy is
in the process of deploying the AuRA-NMS solution, in both
33kVIllkV primary substations and IlkV secondary substations.
Residing on the ABB COM600 platform, the solution is to
generate open loop control outputs, based on real network
activity. Control outputs are recorded and then compared to real
control actions performed by the Utility, whether it be either
operator initiated or automated. Results of the comparison will
lead to further advancement in SMART solutions and moreover
closed loop deployment.

6 Conclusion

This paper has attempted to discuss the options available to a

SMART Grid solution in implementing a control system solution
on a Utility.
It is clear that the selection of such a system is dependent on the
requirement, available infrastructure and technical limitations.
Requirements such as standards to be met (61850), geographic
location and communication media.
The SMART solution is a concept not limited to any platform,
and the control system is versatile enough to meet any scenario.
In order for the utilities to expand and grow in adopting SMART
solutions it must become a requirement where in building a
common approach to control systems; the use of industry
standards are utilised in achieving a uniform system, which is
future and generation proof.