Protection Data Collection & Analysis System (PDCAS) for the transmission system interconnected with the European Grid

Customer: European Power Transmission System Operator

Industry:  Power Transmission 

Business Case: 

The power transmission system (400kV) is interconnected with the European grid using tie-lines, which connect certain boundary substations (Extra High Voltage Substations), with corresponding substations of the neighboring systems. The importance of the safe operation of these interconnections was high for the stability of the domestic system, the European system, and the operation of the electricity market. Therefore, events occurring at these lines and events generally at the substations where these lines were placed, must be accurate, fast, thoroughly analyzed, and assessed, between the two involved operators.

The scope of the system included

• Automatic collection of the events & disturbance records from the Interconnection lines and their analysis at the national control center of the transmission system operator.  The DR files were expected to be delivered to the neighboring TSOs as well as to the ENTSO-E for further real-time evaluation in standard COMTRADE - Common Format for Transient Data Exchange format (IEEE P37.111).

• Complete configuration management of the IEDs from the national control center. 

• Detailed user management including role-based-access, audit-trail, event and alarm data, Report generations

• Data collection & fault file collection from various IEDs involved the protocols of ABB SPA, Alstom Courier, IEC60870-5-103, IEC61850, GE-Modbus, SEL ASCII, and SEL Fast Message Protocols.

• The initial phase included 6 * 400kV substations with plans for extending further.

The Solution: 

PDCAS was based on Kalkitech Power Systems Enterprise Suite (PSES) at the control center and SYNC3000Substation Disturbance Record (DR) collector/data concentrator at each substation. The system utilized the decentralized architecture wherein each substation had one SYNC3000 with several terminal servers (SYNC2000) along with the required data network active and passive equipment (fiber optic cables, patch panels, Ethernet switches, routers) were installed. The SYNC3000 was equipped with drivers/adaptors which enabled communication with different types and brands of grid devices, including ABB, Siemens, Areva, and SEL. The drivers were based on licenses, collect disturbance data from various protocols including ABB SPA, Alstom Courier, IEC60870-5-103, IEC61850, SEL ASCII, and Fast Message Protocols as well as various custom Modbus implementations. Furthermore, SYNC 3000 automatically transforms received disturbance records to COMTRADE format and name and merges files according to the IEEE-PES-PSRC report.

Key Benefits:

By implementing the solution, the power transmission system operator was able to achieve the following benefits: 

• The complete solution allowed the utility to do Protection Data Collection & Analysis automatically at the central location without bothering multiple vendor systems and protocols.

• The complete configuration management was made possible from the center.

• Role-based access control restricting the user based on the functionalities & based on the regions like substations, feeders, etc were possible.

• The complete system adhered to the latest security requirements like IEEE1686 standard, so that utility was continuously ensured with the latest plans & updates based on the Common Vulnerability & Exposures (CVE).