IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems

Klaus-Peter Brand
ABB Switzerland Ltd., Baden, Switzerland

1 Introduction to Distribution Systems

1.1 Conventional Distribution Systems
Distribution systems as topic of this book are discussed in all chapters of this book from different points of
view. To get some understanding how IEC 61850 (Ed2, 2009–2013) is applied to the distribution systems,
relevant features of these systems are summarized.
The conventional distribution systems are of radial type where the electrical energy is distributed from
a central place like a transformer substation where the transmission system is taped and the voltage trans-
formed from transmission to distribution level. These radial distribution lines may also be distribution trees
that are fed at the root, and where the consumers are connected to the branches (Figure 1). Breaks in the
radial or tree structure result in the loss of energy supply for all downstream-connected consumers. If a
higher availability is requested like in industrial areas, the local distribution system is designed as physical
ring with infeed from two sides (Figure 1). The ring is operated normally with one open point (switch) like
two radial lines. In case of a break, the open point (switch) is closed as the break is now the open point. The
power flow goes always in one direction, that is, from the central infeed point to the many consumers. This
makes line protection and power management for this kind of networks easy.

1.2 Transmission Systems

As difference to the mentioned radial tree structures of distribution systems, the transmission systems are
strongly meshed to loose in case of a line break not the power supply to the overall network. There is always
at least for a single line break an alternative path for the energy flow (Figure 2). In the transmission grid,
the power flow is changing its direction depending on the actual power system situation. This makes line
protection and power management for this kind of networks complicated.

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2 Smart Grid Handbook

Transmission
(infeed) CB

CB CB

CB
Distribution

LS closed LS closed

Transmission
(infeed) CB

CB CB LS open

CB LS closed
Distribution
LS closed

Figure 1 Distribution systems (top: radial tree, bottom: tree in ring configuration)

Distribution/consumption

Consumption/
distribution

Distribution/
consumption

Bulk power
Distribution/consumption generation

Figure 2 Transmission systems (meshed with multiple bulk power infeed)

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 3

1.3 Trends in Distribution Systems

Distribution systems experience today a lot of fundamental changes caused mainly because of the infeed of
distributed power generation by renewable energy sources [water, wind, solar-thermal, photovoltaic (PV),
biogas, geothermal, sea driven generation, etc.]. This is in contrast to the classical bulk power generation,
that is, mainly by fossil and nuclear power plants, which feed directly to the transmission system. Sometimes
the renewable energy producing entities are combined locally in some kind of a virtual large bulk power plant
like wind power or solar-thermal plants, which may be connected also directly to the transmission system.
In such distribution systems, the request of not losing power supply in case of a single line break is very
much the same as in transmission systems. Therefore, distribution systems with distributed power generation
are getting more and more meshed as may be seen already in countries or areas with a high penetration of
renewables (Figure 3). The power flow direction may change also in the distribution system according to the
actual power supply and demand situation. The result is that the requirements for line protection and power
management are approaching these ones in the transmission system. Nevertheless, for long time, some parts
of the distribution system may stay radially and unmeshed.
As the renewables are in most cases volatile, that is, not constantly available over time, energy storage is
needed everywhere in the distribution system. This adds a lot of new components to be managed (Figures 4
and 5).
The increasing penetration of the power system by distributed energy resources goes down to the domestic
area where every home owner may get a prosumer, for example, by producing a lot of energy by the PV
system on his/her roof and feeding it into his/her domestic storage or into the grid (producer) or by drawing
energy from the grid at times when his/her own generation does not match his/her actual need (consumer).
This changes the relation between the power utility and its customer. This is one of the driving forces for
meters with two-way communication mostly called smart meters.

1.4 Smart Grids

On the basis of all these changes in the power system, the term networks of the future entered the discussions
and was later replaced by the more fashionable term smart grids (Andersson and Brand, 2009). The driving

Transmission
(infeed) CB

CB CB

CB
Distribution

Distributed power
generation

Figure 3 Trends for distribution systems triggered by distributed power generation

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4 Smart Grid Handbook

Classical generation Distributed generation

and limited automation and smart grid

C C C C C PC
C C PC PC
C C C C
DS DS
C DS DS C PC DS DS C

C C PC C
DS DS DS DS
TS TS
C C C PC

C DS TS P TS DS C C DS TS P TS DS PC

C C PC C
TS TS
DS DS DS DS
C C C C

C DS DS C DS DS PC
C
DS DS
C C PC PC
C C C PC
C C C PC C C

P: Producer Automation and

TS: Transmission substation communication
DS: Distribution substation Energy flow Mostly local automation
PC: Producer and consumer and no communication

Figure 4 Smart grid according to Andersson and Brand (2009)

elements for the power system of the future are that more elements have to be controlled (Figure 4) and
monitored like the exploding number of producers and prosumers mostly with volatile production, many
new storage facilities on all levels, much more meshing of the grids, new relationship between power util-
ities and customers based both on technology and contracts, and communication needs between nearly all
elements. To operate such a power system reliable as requested, ecologically as needed by the environment
and for reasonable cost for the users, the exploitation of all applicable ITC (IT and communication) means
is requested. By this, the term smart grid gets some sound meaning (Andersson and Brand, 2009).
It should be mentioned that smartness is not the property of a single element but the collective property
of the complete power system with all its levels, from the producers to the consumers (Andersson and
Brand, 2009). Therefore, the transmission and distribution system has to be considered closely together.
The commonly used term smart meters is not a sound definition.
Therefore, distribution systems of today is discussed always in the context of smart grids. With this intro-
duction in mind, it is possible to focus the attention of this chapter to the distribution system. For the
exploitation of ITC, also IEC 61850 Ed2 (2009–2013) “Communication networks and systems for power
utility automation” as power system wide standard has to be considered.

1.5 Microgrid as Special Structure in the Smart Grid

A microgrid is defined as limited area or island in the grid where production and consumption including
storage are balanced out most time, that is, no external supply is needed. This could happen on a real island
that is independent from shipping fuel and/or expensive submarine DC power supply (cable) or in areas
in the grid that may be operated most time with no energy exchange with the surrounding grid (Figure 5).
Unwanted islands happening by chance in the connected grid are not easy to detect and will cause problems

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 5

Consumption Generation Consumption

Transmission
(infeed) CB

CB CB

CB
(Distribution)
micro-grid

Generation Storage Generation

Figure 5 Microgrid with local generation, storage and consumption, and grid access

if the balance is lost. Microgrids are intended and, therefore, seen as wanted islands. They have normally
one connection to the grid only, often a transformer, and a microgrid controller keeping the balance. In case
of a deviation from the balance the microgrid controller will take care to import the missing energy from the
grid or export the excess energy to the grid. If the microgrid is operated normally with an open or closed link
to the external grid is not only a matter of philosophy but also of the time constants within the micro grid.

1.6 Summary for the Distribution Systems

There are many topologies and also foreseen topology changes. This requires also for distribution sys-
tems an appropriate flexibility for control, automation, protection, monitoring, and communication from
pole-mounted functionally restricted intelligent electronic devices (IED)s toward an advanced multifunc-
tional distributed ITC system for fully developed smart grids.

2 Introduction to IEC 61850

2.1 History
The standard IEC 61850 (IEC 61850 Ed1, 2002–2005) was successfully introduced in 2005 under the title
“Communication Networks and Systems in Substations” and more than 6000 substation automation sys-
tems are now in operation according to it. The Ed2 was issued in 2013 under the title “Communication
Networks and Systems for Utility Communication” (IEC 61850 Ed2, 2009–2013), taking care the fact that
the standard was extended to other application domains also (hydro power, wind power, distributed energy
resources). The standard was from beginning applicable not only for transmission but also for distribution
substations. Especially in transformer substation between the transmission and distribution system, IEC
61850 was applied for both voltage levels from the beginning. Sometimes the distribution part was dom-
inant, for example, with one infeed at subtransmission level and many (>10) feeders at distribution level.
The amendment to edition 2 (Amd2.1 → Ed2.1) is fixing some inconsistencies found by the UML (unified

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6 Smart Grid Handbook

modeling language) back-office model containing the complete standard and other minor interoperabil-
ity issues found. Before the application of IEC 61850 for distribution systems is described more in detail
regarding functional and implementation requirements, the basic concept of the standard is summarized.

2.2 The Goals of IEC 61850

The main goal of IEC 61850 is interoperability between IEDs from different suppliers, which implies that
the semantic of the exchanged data is standardized same as the exchange or communication procedures. The
second goal has been the free allocation of functions to electronic devices allowing in the frame of the
standard to allow for nearly all substation automation architectures worldwide. The standard is not fixing
one solution worldwide, but tells how any architectural specification may be fulfilled. It is clear that this
freedom is limited by the IEDs on the market available. The third goal is that the standard has to be future
proof, that is, that the investments from today are not lost in the future by the fast developing communication
means and new functional needs in the application domain. This problem is solved as far as possible by
referencing main stream communication methods in the standard.

2.3 The Importance and History of the Semantic Data Definition

Interoperability refers to the semantics of data. Any receiver must understand all data subscribed from any
sender without human interference at operation time. Historically, the hardwired data had been semantically
identified by the position in a linear sequence of screws in marshaling frames or electromechanical devices
fixing all the parallel copper wires of the exchanged signals, that is, one wire or wire loop per signal. With
the advent of the microprocessors, the parallel wires have been replaced by serial communication that is, few
telegrams over one electrical or optical link replacing many single copper wires. The meaning of the signals
was translated from the series of screws to a list of integer numbers. This was the same both in proprietary
communication schemes and in standard families like this one for telecontrol (IEC 60870-5, 1990–2013).
It was always needed to be familiar with the table of all meaningful numbers. It was impossible to add a
new signal that should be for semantic reasons placed between two adjacent integer numbers.

2.4 The Approach of IEC 61850

IEC 61850 has introduced and standardized a domain-specific object-oriented data model with data and
services (Figure 6). Data are objects with a high-level semantic meaning that are defined not by numbers
but by acronyms. Services are an abstract definition of the data access and exchange. The data model has to
follow the requirements in the application domain that is not changing very fast.
To realize the communication, the data and services have been mapped to a main stream communication
stack consisting of manufacturing message specification (MMS), transmission control protocol/Internet pro-
tocol (TCP/IP), and Ethernet (Figure 6). The standard was realized by referencing to the existing definitions
of these components. Nevertheless, the mapping is strictly defined in the standard to avoid proprietary ones
that would jeopardize interoperability. Therefore, because of the clearly defined interface, IEC 61850 may
also follow the trends within the main stream communication like the changing length of MMS objects or
the speed of the Ethernet with minor implications or, in the worst case, with a new mapping. Theoretically,
more than one mapping in parallel is possible but the number of mappings should be limited to a minimum
as it impacts the interoperability at implementation level.

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 7

Domain substation automation: Definition

What data to be communicated? Data and services
Data
model according to the domain
substation automation

Communication
Mapping
Data model to the
communication stack

ISO/
OSI Selection
Communication technology: stack ISO / OSI stack
How data to be communicated? from the mainstream

Figure 6 The approach of IEC 61850 (split in data model and communication stack)

Physical device (IED)

defined as server Bay IED

Implementation

Logical device (LD) Bay control

Grouping
CSWI
Logical node (LN)
Switch control
Data
Pos
Data object (DO) Switch position
Properties
stVal
Data attribute (DA)
Status value
Value Intermediate,
off, on, bad

Figure 7 Data model hierarchy (IED, LD, LN, DO, DA)

2.5 Data Model and its Hierarchy

The key object to define the function-related data to be exchanged is the logical node (LN). It may be seen as
container for all this data and is named with a four letter acronym referring to the function (IEC 61850-7-3
Ed2, 2010; IEC 61850-7-4 Ed2, 2010). Therefore, new functions may be easily added to the standard by
defining a new LN. The LN contains data objects (DOs) consisting of a group of data attributes (DAs),
which may be reused for different DOs and, therefore, are named common data classes (CDC). These DAs
carry the values of the exchanged data (Figure 7). The functions respectively the LNs may be switched into
different modes, that is, “on”, “off”, “blocked,” or “test/blocked.” As such actions and other properties may
be common for a group of LNs, one or more different LNs are combined in one logical device (LD), where
all common data are found in the “administrative” LN LLN0. LDs are embedded in “physical devices”
described by the LN LPHD. The implementation in the IED is of server type.

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8 Smart Grid Handbook

2.6 Services
2.6.1 List of Most Important Services
The services describing on a high semantic level the data access and exchange are as follows (IEC 61850-7-2
Ed2, 2010):

• Read service: read data, for example, attribute values.

• Write service: write data, for example, configuration attributes.
• Control service: operate a device (direct operate/select before operate/more, etc.).
• Report service: send event triggered reports to clients.
• Log service: store/buffer locally events and others.
• Directory service: get directory information = data model out of the IED.
• File transfer service: transfer files, for example, for
– parameter and software download,
– upload of monitoring data like travel curves or history of gas density,
– upload for disturbance recorder files.
• Generic object-oriented system events transfer service (GOOSE):
exchange content-wise short messages between IEDs similar as with hardwired contacts to be used for
positions, trips, blocks, releases, and so on.
• Sampled value (SV) transfer service (data stream), for example, for currents and voltages.

This list is not complete because some services need a more extensive explanation, which is beyond the
scope of this short introduction.

2.6.2 Time Critical and Nontime Critical Services

Important is which services are time critical. As only the last two (GOOSE and SV) are exchanged between
IEDs without human interference, the functions behind require an application to application time well below
100 ms. Mostly used is the performance class with the highest demand, that is, 3 ms. Therefore, these two
services are seen as time critical. All other services listed above imply an archive or operator commands
and responses and, therefore, are not time critical, as the operator response time is optimistically defined as
≥1 s. The performance classes are defined in IEC 61850-5 Ed2 (2013).

2.7 Main Stream Communication Stack

The communication stack performs mainly the coding of the semantic data and services into messages con-
sisting of bits and bytes at the sender or the decoding of the messages into semantic usable data at the receiver.
The stack was not reinvented new but built out of main stream components such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, and
MMS (Figure 8). Ethernet is the technology where the most money is invested worldwide and which moves
starting from local area networks (LANs) into wide area networks (WANs) in one direction and into the
process near area (called field busses in the past) in the other direction. TCP/IP is the de facto standard for
all communication nets originally invented for the military DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency) net and used today for all nets including Internet. MMS comes from the automation of car man-
ufacturing and is used in many automation fields and also as TASE2 in the power system as inter-center
communication protocol (therefore named also ICCP) between network control centers. For IEC 61850

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 9

Data model (data, services) Abstract

communication
services
interface
(ACSI)
Client–server GOOSE SV

Mapping

Stack interface
MMS

Time critical communication

TCP
IP
Ethernet link layer with priority tagging

Ethernet physical layer (100 MB/s)

Figure 8 Communication stack of IEC 61850 with data model mapping

in substations both in Ed1 and Ed2, the Ethernet speed of 100 MHz was selected. It should be noted that
the speed limitation is caused always by the receivers that have not only to receive but also to process all
incoming messages. These receivers in power systems are not number-crunching Internet node computers
but protection and control IEDs, which the users expect for “reasonable (low) prices”.

2.8 Client–Server and Publisher–Subscriber Communication

The full seven-layer stack provides the highly reliable and comfortable common client–server communi-
cation as we know, for example, from the Internet. VPN (virtual private network) tunnel like point-to-point
associations are built up, the message acknowledgement is performed at low level and in case of failures
resending is requested. The protection (Pxxx) and control (Cxxx) IEDs and others are the servers and the
HMI (human–machine interface) (LN IHMI) and the gateway (LN ITCI) are the clients. It is very comfort-
able for the operator and easily implemented, as operators have a response time ≥1 s as mentioned already
above.
However, the use of the full seven-layer stack provides not the performance as needed for time criti-
cal communication for automatics including protection where application to application times down to 3
ms are requested. This means faster coding and decoding, respectively, less layers. As mentioned already,
time critical communications between IEDs are the SV service and the GOOSE service. Layer one and
two are the absolute minimum for Ethernet-based communication and the challenge is to find out if the
received message is of SV or GOOSE type. The Ether types provided by IEEE to IEC are short codes at
link layer allowing the messages identification already at link layer. The IP address has to be replaced by

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10 Smart Grid Handbook

another address. The MAC (media access control) address is the fixed hardware address different for any
Ethernet chip. Using this address would mean that the replacement of a faulted IED by a spare IED will
results in the need for re-engineering the communication for all GOOSE and SV messages. The multi-
cast address available at link layer is a free configurable software address at the sender side and, therefore,
well suited for the minimum stack. The spare IED needs only to take over the multicast address of the
faulted one.
Using the two-layer stack only, the coding and decoding time is heavily reduced and the time critical
services may be performed with the requested performance. The applied communication procedure is not
any more the client–server one but the publisher–subscriber procedure, where IEDs act as publisher sending
messages with the allocated multicast address and the interested receivers have to subscribe all messages
needed. The data flow may be controlled by the switches as these are able to perform filtering according to
the multicast addresses.
Acknowledgment common for client–server communication is not possible in this short transmission
times and has to be replaced by repetition. As, by the SV service, samples are coming from the sinusoidal
primary current and voltage values as data stream, they provide some kind of built-in repetition, and no
additional actions are needed. If one sample is lost, the next one comes nearly immediately depending on the
sampling rate. No trip decision is based on one sample only. The GOOSE service has one-time information,
which is not allowed to be lost. Here, a specific repetition scheme is applied (Figure 9). With the original
message and two quick repetitions with a minimum repetition time (configurable Tmin , typically 2–4 ms),
three messages have to be lost, which means a very low probability for that. The repetition with the long
cycle (configurable Tmax ) means a supervision of the sender being still alive by the receiver. The mapping
to the stack is defined for client–server connections and GOOSE messages in IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2 (2011)
and for SV messages in IEC 61850-9-2 Ed2 (2011).

Change of information = event = GOOSE message start

Time t

Tmax Tmax
Tmin

1. Change of information (event) causes

start of a GOOSE message with changed information
2. Sending is repeated twice with Tmin to get
very high probability for sucessful receiving
3. Sending is then repeated with Tmax to get
a continuous life supervision of sender and link
4. Any new change interrupts the repetition with
Tmax and restarts the again sending with Tmin

Repetition of GOOSE messages with Tmax «forever» that is, until next change

Figure 9 Transmission scheme of GOOSE messages

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 11

2.9 Communication Performance

As the communication is neither a purpose for itself nor a message exchange in offices but essential for mis-
sion critical functions in the power system, the transmission delay from application to application functions
including all coding and decoding, links, and active elements like Ethernet switches has to be acceptable.
The performance is given in form of classes in IEC 61850-5 (2013), where the most demanding class claims
3 ms. Between substations, up to 20 ms may be tolerated.

2.10 Redundancy
In Ed1 of IEC 61850, neither communication structure nor redundancy was defined but in nearly all sub-
station automation systems in operation the rapid spanning tree protocol (RSTP) for the Ethernet LAN was
applied. The basic structure is a physical closed ring of switches that is operated as a tree keeping one
switch “open,” that is, not forwarding messages beyond this switch. If a link is broken, the “open” switch is
closed and the break keeps the ring open and again a tree structure results without any loss for the connected
IEDs, that is, similar to the above-mentioned distribution rings with infeed from both sides. As a result of
this change in the communication ring, now some IEDs are reached over other switches and the address
tables (look-up tables) in the switches have to be recalculated. This takes some time, for example, about
5 ms per switch and the complete recovery of n serial-connected switches n times 5 ms. Both the broken
ring detection and the reconfiguration are made autonomously by the switches. In Ed2, two methods with
redundant messages from IEC TC 65 have been adopted in IEC 61850, that is, the PRP (parallel redundancy
protocol) with two independent communication systems for each of the redundant channels and the HSR
(high-availability seamless redundancy protocol), where in a ring structure two redundant messages run in
opposite directions. Note that both methods need no reconfiguration time but are applicable for IEDs with
two redundant ports only. As redundancy tolerates only one failure, the redundancy has to be supervised
and in case of one channel lost the redundancy has to be established as soon as possible by a maintenance
action. In addition, RSTP was explicitly added to the standard (Figure 10). Regarding WANs, the redundant
communication, for example, between the substation and the control centers is treated by an IEC TC57 Task
Force. It gets complicated if the WAN is meshed in an unknown way and being reconfigured from time to
time without announcement according to the needs of the WAN as such.

2.11 SCL and Engineering

As the standard documents of IEC 61850 consist of much more than 1000 pages, it means some effort for
developers. For project engineering, testing, and so on, it is rather simple as all these steps may be handled
by sophisticated tools on semantic level as intended by the standard. Both the tools and the IEDs may be
certified by test centers that have to be qualified by the subgroup testing of the international user group. The
inputs are the IED capability description files (ICD) and the single line topology described in the substation
specification description file (SSD, Figure 11) and the final output is the as-built substation configuration
description file (SCD). All these files are based on the system configuration description language (SCL).
For SCL and all derived files, see IEC 61850-6 Ed2 (2009).

2.12 Benefits and Resulting Basic Requirements

As seen from the overview before, the big value of IEC 61850 is the data model, which results in the fact
that every IED function is able to understand the content of any message. Reverse, this requests that only

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12 Smart Grid Handbook

RSTP Client 1 Client 2

Server 1 Server 2 Server 3 Server 4

PRP Client 1 Client 2

Comm A Comm B

Server 1 Server 2 Server 3 Server 4

HSR Client 1 Client 2

Server 1 Server 2 Server 3 Server 4

Figure 10 Redundancy schemes referenced in IEC 61850 Ed2

=E1 Voltage level 110 kV

=Q1 line bay / feeder =Q2 line bay / feeder
=WB1 Busbar 1
=WB1 Busbar 2

=QB1 =QB2 =QB1 =QB2 =XW1

Communication
IED IED subnetwork
Bay control Bay control
CSWI1 CSWI1
=QA1 XCBR1 =QA1 XCBR1

=QC1 =QC1
Single line diagram
IED configuration (LN)
=QE1 =QE1 Communication network
Relation between LN and
single line diagram

Figure 11 Content of the SSD file created by tools in engineering process

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 13

Station bus

Protection IED
PTOC
PDIS

PTRC

TVTR TCTR XCBR

Process (switchyard)
Station bus
Protection IED

PTOC
PDIS

PTRC

Process Process bus

near IEDs

TVTR TCTR XCBR

Process (switchyard)

Figure 12 Process interface with and without process bus

standardized data are exchanged in an IEC 61850-based system. It means that any data from the process have
to be mapped at the source (process interface, Figure 12) already to the model defined by the applicable LNs,
and every data to the process (commands, trips) have to be issued via the applicable LNs also.

3 Application of IEC 61850 to Distribution Systems

3.1 Distribution Substations
The substations in the distribution system are the same as for the transmission systems. The transformer
stations connecting the distribution system with the transmission system have been already mentioned.
Therefore, all LNs and DOs with their attributes as defined in IEC 61850-7-4 (2010) and IEC 61850-7-3
(2010) are available for application and will cover all requirements. The distribution substation has in most
cases a transmission level on the top. The details of the communication interface indicated in Figure 13

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14 Smart Grid Handbook

Logical
nodes
YPTR
ATCC
PDIF
PTOC
RED or
QUAD box PTRC
TVTR
TCTR
IED IED CSWI IED
bay HSR coupler XSWI bay
C&P C&P XCBR C&P
etc.

IED IED IED IED IED IED

bay bay bay bay bay bay
C&P C&P C&P C&P C&P C&P

Figure 13 Example for distribution substation automation system

as RED box or QUAD box and the connection to the station level HMI or dispatch center depend on the
communication scheme of the higher level also. As mentioned already, the total free and flexible system
architecture may be restricted by the IEDs available on the market but the suppliers will provide all IEDs
needed by the users. The Ethernet structure with and without redundancy may be used. All services needed
by the function in the distribution IEDs are available. A ring type communication system is very common,
that is, for single port IEDs RSTP and for dual port IEDs HSR. These redundancy procedures are described
overall in IEC TR 61850-90-4 (2013) and implemented in the mappings of IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2 (2011)
and IEC 61850-9-2 Ed2 (2011). If a less physical vulnerable redundancy is requested, PRP with physical
separation of the parallel channels is the choice, otherwise HSR is an alternative.

3.2 Conventional Radial Distribution Systems

The radial branched lines are mostly protected by overcurrent protection with time staggered tripping
(increasing time delay from infeed point for selectivity) of circuit breakers to clear the fault. The protection
scheme works without any communication. Nevertheless, it is very important to know which relay has
tripped to have an indication for the maintenance crew to fix potential damages. In addition remote
control for switches and local autoreclosure is applied, mostly all mounted at the pole porting the power
line. The appropriate LNs for modeling the current instrument transformer (LN TCTR), the protection
(LN PTOC), and the circuit breaker (LN XCBR) or switch (LN XSWI) are all provided by IEC 61850
(Figure 14).
More functions may be modeled out of the comprehensive set of LNs but are not so much common at
this level and, therefore, may be limited by distribution IEDs available on the market. Monitoring functions

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 15

Transmission 1.0 s 0.5 s

Detailed
PTOC
(infeed) PTOC PTOC modeling
2.5 s
PTRC
PTOC
XCBR TCTR

Distribution

PTOC PTOC PTOC PTOC

2.0 s 1.5 s 1.0 s 0.5 s

Figure 14 Radial distribution system with basic protection in IEC 61850 terms

already modeled by LNs from IEC 61850-7-4 Ed2 (2010) or by additional LNs in the upcoming technical
report IEC TR 61850-90-3 Ed1 (2016) about condition-based monitoring are an option in case of increasing
demand for supervising the distribution system.
In the draft IEC TR 61850-90-6 just circulated in its first version and restricted to conventional radial
distribution systems, three additional LNs for fault passage systems are tentatively proposed. Such new LNs
if agreed would be an easy extension of the LNs standardized in IEC 61850.
The IEC 61850 model is scalable according the functional needs handling these radially branched lines.
However, all these functions need communication (Figure 14). It should be possible to get all events/alarms
by the report service and make commands by the control service. To get less-expensive implementations,
control services may also be performed by GOOSE messages. Instead of using Ethernet over fiber opti-
cal links, Ethernet could be applied also wireless or the IEC 61850 data including the needed services (in
minimum GOOSE) may be mapped to GSM (global system for mobile communications) or to power line
carrier communication. The high speed of 100 Mbit/s is not needed. Remember that the remote IEDs have
to provide already at the source, the data according to the IEC 61850 data model for full semantic interoper-
ability. In addition, time tagging has to be provided for the events/alarms. If this minimum requirements are
not fulfilled, the benefits of IEC 61850 cannot be exploited fully and the life-cycle costs of the distribution
system will increase.

3.3 Meshed Distribution Systems

The integration of renewables in the distribution system will result in grid structures similar to these ones
of the transmission system, especially with meshed grids and changing directions of the power flow. Besides
the breakers (LN XCBR) needed anyhow, directional protection (LN PTOC, LN PDIR) has to be applied.
For fast selective fault clearing and fault location, also distance protection (LN PDIS) with communication
to the other side of the line may be worthwhile to apply at distribution level at least in dense-populated
areas demanding a high reliable power supply. For example, faults may be cleared very selectively with
communication within 80 ms instead in 300 ms without communication where the time delay only has to
provide a minimal selectivity. The fault impedance indicates also the fault distance. With fiber links, also
differential protection (LN PDIF) requiring high bandwidth may be easily applied if directional or distance

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16 Smart Grid Handbook

Line 1 Line 2 Line 3

Communication: GOOSE
PTOC

PTOC

PTOC
Busbar

PTOC

PTOC
PDIR

Line 4 Line 5

Figure 15 Simple busbar protection for distribution level

protection has problems because of weak infeed. Installing fiber links may be very economically feasible,
if they are used for other utility services also.
In distribution substations with changing power flow directions, busbar protection may be applied with
benefit. The classical low-impedance differential busbar protection scheme (LN PFIF) requires high effort,
that is, mainly high bandwidth for the substation wide exchange of current samples. A much simpler busbar
protection scheme (Figure 15) may be realized by directional comparison protection (LN PDIR) comparing
the direction provided by directional overcurrent protection (LN PTOC), which contains in the start DO
(Str) and also optionally the fault direction. The needed communication bandwidth is low as only the fault
directions and the resulting trip(s) have to be transmitted. It should be noted that for directional protection,
always voltage measurement is also needed.

3.4 Smart Distribution Grids

3.4.1 New Components, Structures, and Operation
As mentioned in Section 1, the distribution system is evolving today toward the so-called smart grid trig-
gered both by decentralized infeed of renewables and new type of relationship between utilities and con-
sumers. By this change new components appear to be modeled by IEC 61850, new system structures (like the
already mentioned meshing) are created with impact on protection and control, and new kinds or operation
modes are touching the communication also.

3.4.2 Modeling of New Components

Generation with Distributed Energy Resources
In IEC 61850 emerging from “Substation Automation” (IEC 61850 Ed1, 2002–2005) and being extended
to “Utility Automation” (IEC 61850 Ed2, 2009–2013), the focus was at the beginning not very much on

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 17

Fuel Auxiliary
system battery

Energy Storage
converter devices

Unit control
Exciter

Generator
unit

Converter

Circuit
Metering
breaker

Grid control

Figure 16 Conceptual function frame for DER according to IEC 61850-7-420

generation. However, already in IEC 61850-7-4 Ed1 (2003), the LN ZGEN was defined as basic data model
for all kind of generation with rotating machines. In IEC 61850-7-420 Ed1 (2009), one generator is defined
by DGEN with the general operational characteristics independent from the different prime movers that
are modeled separately (Figure 16). This could be applied for micro turbines, wind turbines, diesel gen-
erators, combustion turbines, fuel cells, and PV systems. As seen, there is some overlap with some other
dedicated domains like hydropower and wind power (TC88 WG25). Nevertheless, two generation principles
are discussed separately in what follows.

Small Hydropower Generation

In IEC 61850-7-410 Ed2 (2012), the LN HUNT (hydropower production unit) and the LN ZSMC (syn-
chronous machine) represent the power generation and other LNs cover also the water flow handling. This
allows to model small hydro that is feeding in at distribution level. Big hydro as bulk power generation is
conventionally connected to the transmission system.

Photovoltaic (PV) Power Generation

In IEC 61850-7-420 Ed1 (2009), PV is modeled by a set of LNs, that is, by LN DPVM (PV module char-
acteristics), LN DPVA (PV array characteristics), and LN DPVC (PV array controller). To follow the sun
over the day, also a LN DTRC (PV tracking controller) is available.

Small Wind Power Generation

Wind power in big wind parks may be seen as bulk power and be coupled directly into the transmission
grid. The modeling of the wind power domain according to IEC 61850 is done by WG25 in TC 88. The

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18 Smart Grid Handbook

results are in the standard family IEC 61400-25 referring to “Communications for monitoring and control
of wind power plants.” The approach of Ed1 is not completely in line with the basic standard IEC 61850
published by TC57. The Ed2 being just published makes a first step towards harmonization, which should
be finally reached with Ed3 of IEC 61400-25. IEC 61400-25-2 Ed2 (2015) refers with its definition of LNs
and CDCs part 7-4 and 7-3 of IEC 61850, IEC 61400-25-3 Ed2 (2015) with its definition of services to
part 7-2.

Electrical Connection Points (ECP) and Common Coupling (PCC) in DER Plant
Some closely located generators may be combined by electric connection points (ECPs) and feed the
summed-up energy into the power system at one point only, that is, the so-called point of common coupling
(PCC). Especially PV energy generation may be performed by many connected panels with PV cells.
Therefore, a detailed model may only be of local interest.

Grouping and Control Points

Same as the power generation may be considered from the PCC, the control of the single generating elements
will exist but all may be controlled by one overall group controller (Figure 17).

Batteries and Other Storage Capacities

The generation in distribution grids is mostly volatile, that is, it is not providing energy at all time, and there-
fore energy storage is needed. If the storage capacity is also distributed, that is, installed near or directly in the
production sites, batteries are the first choice. For an overall smart grid concept, also the conventional stor-
age systems like pump storage systems have to be included in the modeling. For modelling batteries exists
in IEC 61850-7-4 Ed2 (2010) the LN. The basic approach that a battery has to be charged and decharged
and its state has to be monitored is common to all storage systems.

DER interconnections

PCC

PCC

Local
power PCC
system

Utility power system

Figure 17 Points of common coupling (PCC) according to IEC 61850-7-420

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 19

Utility Server Client

Consumer IHMI MMTR

Figure 18 Minimal model for smart meters (metering and consumer HMI)

Consumers and Smart Meters

The consumers in a smart grid must have a two-way communication link with the energy provider. He/she
needs the actual consumption at any time and the consumer needs the actual value of the flexible tariff
according the contract. The goal is to get rid of the noneconomic peaks in the power flow (peak consumption
means peak production) without impacting the comfort of the consumer. In addition, as a prosumer, he/she
needs a two-way link regarding his/her activities in selling or buying energy. As a synonym for the equipment
needed, the “smart meter” is used, which may be de facto more a smart connection of the home with the
power system.
In IEC 61850, there is no smart meter LN, as it consists out of different functions. For the metering
function, in IEC 61850-7-4 Ed2 (2010), the LN MMTN for single-phase metering and the LN MMTR for
three-phase metering are provided. Both make a difference between supply and demand and, therefore,
cover already the needs of a prosumer. For an in-time update of the tariffs, a GOOSE message with the next
tariff and the time when the tariff becomes valid allows also an in-time decision at consumer side. It has
always been considered that a big amount of meters has both to be red out and provided with actual tariffs.
However, for the communication of consumer with the energy provider, only a client–server connection
provides the flexibility needed (LN IHMI, Figure 18). There is at least some standardized fine tuning of this
model proposal needed.
In Europe, DLMS/COSEM is seen as complement to IEC 61850 for the meter reading. Keeping the key
component of IEC 61850, that is, the semantic model data model also, in this case, is very important. The
technical specification IEC TS 61850-80-4 Ed1 (2016) defines the mapping from COSEM data model (IEC
62056) to the IEC 61850 data models.

Microgrid as Special Structure in the Smart Grid

The microgrid automation consists of components already modeled above for the distribution system, that
is, (renewable) generation, storage facilities, and consumers that have already been modeled in the context of
IEC 61850. One component is still missing, that is, the modeling of the microgrid controller that takes care as
automatic for the balance in the part of the grid and decides also about import and export of electrical energy
to the overall distribution system. As there exist LNs for all components, only an LN AMGC (automatic
micro grid controller) is not yet defined. Because of the increasing number of microgrids, it is only a matter
of time until such an LN will be defined in IEC 61850. What LNs are really applied depends on the type
of microgrid, for example, inverters and converters are only needed in case of DC generation (PV) or DC
storage (battery) (Figure 19).

System Management
Compared to substation automation systems have a limited number of functions modeled by LN instances
in a rather limited number of IEDs in a limited area i.e. in the switchyard respectively in the substation
automation building. Smart distribution system consists of a much higher number of function modeled by

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20 Smart Grid Handbook

YPTR TVTR TCTR MMXU AMGC

DGEN Consumption Generation Consumption

ZBAT

ZINV ZRCT

Transmission
(infeed) CB

CB CB

CB
(Distribution)
micro-grid

Generation Storage Generation

Figure 19 Microgrid with LNs available

much more LN instances in many IEDs distributed over a wide area. With other words, smart distribution
systems may be seen as super set of smart distribution substations. This has triggered the request for system
management that was started as task force in TC57 WG10. The concept is that all IEDs could be managed
from remote in details, for example, for exchange or update of software. This would be also very beneficial
for substation automation systems at all voltage levels and for IEC 61850 application in all other domains.
This TF was frozen for the time after the finalization of the Amendment 2.1 in 2015 and restarted at a joint
WG10/WG17 meeting in October 2015.

3.5 Free Allocation of Functions for Extensible Interoperable Solutions

The parallel existence of radial systems with unidirectional power flow, the meshed systems with bidirec-
tional flows, and the foreseen migration from the first to the second ones require a free allocation of functions
based on the standardized LNs of IEC 61850. Will all additional functions be in one box, from one supplier
or from different suppliers, in the same combination? This standard provides interoperability between IEDs
from the same and different suppliers, which is a must considering that distribution systems may consist of
thousands of IEDs.

4 Communication in Distribution Systems

4.1 Application of Communication Services to Distribution Systems
The communication services of IEC 61850 listed in Section 2.6 are all available for distribution systems if
applicable. The client–server communication is used for all operator-driven actions and feedback reports as
within the substation. All sites may be reached by such communication not only by wires or fibers but also
by wireless communication links if applied – It should be noted that the structure of the communication
network is not in any case to coincide with the structure of the power distribution grid.

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 21

In classical radial systems with pole-mounted IEDs, no differential protection is applied and, therefore, no
sample services (SV) for current may be needed. Depending on functions, required samples of nonelectrical
values like temperature may appear. Nevertheless, all analog data outside sample streams may be easily
transported with high speed by GOOSE messages. If a fast Internet over fiber or wireless is available, the
maximum time of ≤3 ms may be reached between poles or nodes in the distribution network. Using different
media, the use of the medium as in case of power line carrier may slow down the performance but in most
cases the receivers with their buffering and processing capabilities will be still the bottlenecks.

4.2 Requested Performance and Communication Response Time

For smart grid applications, some sources claim they have collected more than 100 standards. If we
deduct all product and function-related standards, still a lot of communication standards remain. The
discussion about communication for smart distribution grids is not yet finalized because the functions to
be realized in these grids determine the requested performance (band width and response time) but are not
completely clear. As nobody likes to pay for any overhead, a lot of proposed communication standards has
resulted. Some few standards may coexist but their number should be very limited as otherwise multiple
implementations will make the interoperability of IEDs on the market a nightmare for any system integrator
and for the life-cycle maintenance.
The needed response time for meter reading may be very long/slow as data are stored in the meters but
request a high communication capacity as the meters refer to the high number of users connected. Conven-
tional power generation is made with heavy rotating masses that have a high inertia. Therefore, the response
times of the power system today are >1 s. On the other side, distributed energy resources have a very slow
or no inertia like PV. A limited inertia may be simulated by inverters but the figures are <1 s. If clouds move
over PV arrays, regulation response times are down to 3 ms as listed as performance class in IEC 61850-5
Ed2 (2013). For microgrids, some papers mention also – depending on the regulation algorithm – times in
the area of nanosecond.
As mentioned above, the protection schemes from transmission power systems will move also into the
distribution systems. Therefore, transmission times of ≤20 ms are requested (IEC 61850-5 Ed2, 2013).

4.3 Extension of IEC 61850 Communication Outside the Substation

4.3.1 Communication Solutions by Stack Modification
The stack as described in part 8-1 uses MMs, TCP/IP, and Ethernet with a speed of 100 Mbit/s. Instead
of using Ethernet over fiber as common in substation automation, Ethernet may be used also over wire or
wireless as described in the related parts of IEEE 802. In addition, the speed may be changed but increasing
may request larger input buffers and a higher processing capacity. Decreasing the speed is limited by the
performance requested from the functions. Such a decrease may be acceptable to some extent in distribution
systems. It has only to be considered that the IEDs need the proper ports or the appropriate media converter.
Too many solutions in parallel in one domain should be avoided to limit the number of implementations per
device. However, very often the change of media happens by a transition from one domain to another and,
therefore, not the same IEDs are impacted.

4.3.2 Communication Solutions by Protocol Converters

IEC 61850 may also be translated by protocol converters if another communication protocol has to be used.
Example is the substation–substation communication for teleprotection (e.g., distance protection with LN

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22 Smart Grid Handbook

Substation A Substation B
Line protection Line protection
Distance protection Distance protection

IEC 61850 IEC 61850

ITPI

ITPI
PDIS Wide area PDIS
GOOSE link / network GOOSE

Protection IED Interface IED Interface IED Protection IED

Alternatives
IP network
IEC 61850 IEC 61850
Radio link
GOOSE Optical fiber GOOSE
Copper wire
ABB REL 6xx ABB NDS 570 Power line carrier ABB NDS 570 ABB REL 6xx

Figure 20 Example with protocol conversion for the substation–substation link

PDIS, Figure 20). It is a bridge between two IEC 61850 islands. It is only requested that the IEC 61850
message recreated at the other end. An example is the conversion of IEC 61850 GOOSE messages from the
sending IED in one substation into a power line carrier signals and the recreation of the GOOSE message in
the other substation for the receiving IED. This procedure is easily made by information out of the SCD files
of both substations. In IEC 61850-6 (2009), there is a special system exchange description (SED) defined and
also how to handle it by tools. Such kind of protocol conversions may be made also elsewhere in distribution
systems.

4.4 Special Protocol Examples

4.4.1 Use of Power Line Carrier (Example PRIME)
Power line carriers are very convenient as they need no additional transport media. They are still used over
very long transmission lines, but especially attractive for lines on the lower distribution levels down to the
home access including meter reading. In some countries or by some utilities, this solution is made mandatory.
Power line carriers are now finding new applications in the air plane industry for, for example, reducing the
weight of additional fiber bundles.
The relationship between IEC 61850 and power line carrier [example PRIME (powerline intelligent meter-
ing evolution)] is described by Arriola, Andersson, and Bernstein (2010). It is shown that the main features
provided by PRIME to IEC 61850 are far beyond only metering for what PRIME is used for the time being.
It has smart grid capabilities.

4.4.2 Proposal of XMPP, an Internet Type of Communication

For the communication in smart grids, the protocol XMPP (extensible messaging and presence protocol) had
been proposed by WG21 and WG19 of TC57 for a new part IEC 61850-8-2. It finds also some preference

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 23

End-to-end Client messages

request response End-to-end
client request client response
based on IQ stanzes based on stanzes
based on IQ stanzes

XMPP
server

XMPP XMPP
client 1 client 2

ACSI client
ACSI server ACSI server
ACSI-XMPP
ACSI-XMPP ACSI-XMPP

XMPP client XMPP client XMPP client

TCP TCP TCP

Figure 21 Basic communication architecture for XMPP

in the WG17 (distributed energy resources). The origin was to look for a protocol that allows to use IEC
61850 with Web services. A lot of different options have been discussed. It was always an open question
if this approach should be made in utility-owned Intranet only using the benefits of Web technology or if
this approach should be applied directly to the public Internet. The cyber security in the public Ethernet is
surely lower compared with a proprietary one, but there is always some attraction to use an existing network.
XMPP is an open protocol developed originally for instant messaging (chat).
The speciality of XMPP is that the communication goes over one or more servers that should increase
the end-to-end security (Figure 21). That means any IED gets in its stack a “client layer” (end client). The
sending end client (IED) makes an end-to-end client request to the server, which handles both requests
and responses. The receiving client (IED) gets the end-to-end response from the server. The answer of
the receiving client is transmitted in the same way as the communication procedure is symmetrical to the
original request. No peer-to-peer communication between the end-clients and the IEDs is foreseen. In
principle, there may be more than one server in the communication chain. The mechanism is very much
the same as for emails.
The implied client–server mechanism has a direct impact on the communication performance. The transfer
time is >100 ms. This time has to be compared with these of the time critical messages (automatics, e.g.,
in microgrids needs times 3–10 ms or less. Teleprotection schemes request times at least ≤20 ms), which
have been realized not as client–server connections but as publisher–subscriber services (GOOSE, SV).
Therefore, one application of XMPP may be meter reading but regarding the very big amount of meters,
that is, one per end user, not all performance issues are clear. For the client–server communication between
the user and his/her energy provider, XMPP may be exploited. Another application may be the control of
smart distribution system switchgear.
It should be noted that new tests with GOOSE messages outside the substation have been resulted in a
very promising transfer time, that is, for nonoptimized links <40 ms and for optimized links <20 ms at
a distance of 275 km (Steinhauser and Vandiver, 2015), in any case very well below 100 ms.

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24 Smart Grid Handbook

5 Configuring and Maintaining the Distribution Automation System

The SCL as defined in part IEC 61850-6 allows to describe formally both the grid structure as the single
line diagram in substations and all IEC 61850 features on high semantic level (Section 2.11). It allows
configuration changes, testing, and maintenance by powerful tools. An introduction to the “Engineering of
system of systems” as smart grids are named by NIST is described by Wimmer (2010).

6 Summary
6.1 Use of the IEC 61850 Data Model for Distribution Systems
The data model of IEC 61850 with all its domains covers already very well the needs for the smart distribu-
tion grid. Some LNs are still missing like this one for the microgrid controller and some others have to be
improved by adding new DOs like tariff information in the LNs for metering. This may be understood by
considering that the smartness came to the grid when the basic domain substation was already very success-
fully introduced for substation automation. Regarding the evolution from Edition 1 to Edition 2 including
the Amendment 2.1, it was demonstrated that IEC 61850 is easily extendible to meet new requirements with-
out changing the basics and existing models. The key value of IEC 61850, that the consistent data model at
high semantic level makes interoperability possible and should be kept for the complete power system but
also especially for the smart distribution grids. This keeps not only interoperability for future applications
but facilitates also engineering and maintenance over the complete life cycle.

6.2 Some Implementation Comments

The architecture of IEC 61850 system has and is easily adopted to the functional needs. The IEDs with
proper functionality will always come to the market driven by the requirements of the user. The functional
and commercial scalability over all levels must be supported. For example, at transmission level, we have
few expensive IEDs and at distribution level, we need many but lower priced IEDs. The free allocation of
functions, respectively, LNs to IEDs, opens any door for optimization.

6.3 Extension of the Basic IEC 61850 Communication Protocols

Inside the substation both a seven-layer stack for client and server applications and a two-layer stack for
time critical communication, both based on Ethernet, have covered all communication requirements. In this
context, it should not be forgotten that the different redundancy concepts have improved the reliability of
the communication. The speed of 100 Mbit/s is sufficient for the time being. Outside the substation in the
smart distribution system, there is up to now no communication protocol, which covers all requirements.
It may be that the requirements could be allocated to different “subdomains” resulting in the application
of different protocols. Important is that all solutions are defined in the context of IEC 61850 to keep the
high-level semantic data model as key to global interoperability and efficient smart grids.

6.4 Benefits of Using IEC 61850 for Distribution Automation and Smart Grids
Distribution networks may be radial or complex meshed, in any case they comprise a lot of communicat-
ing members (IEDs). Therefore, a high semantic level modeling, the definition of abstract communication

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IEC 61850 for Distribution Systems 25

services and the comprehensive system description by SCL, and the mapping on the communication stack
as provided by the standard IEC 61850 support an easy management of distribution grids in the context of
distribution automation and smart grids in an multivendor environment.

Related Articles
Evolution of the Smart Distribution Grid;
New Technologies and Standards Enabling Grid Modernization;
Role of Renewable Energy;
Substation Automation Systems;
Communication Solutions for Distribution Systems;
Condition Monitoring and Asset Management in the Smart Grid;
Microgrids in Distribution;
Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Using IEC 61850 with Cyber Security and Resilience Guide-
lines;
New Approaches to Interoperability.

References – Papers and Books

Andersson, L. and Brand, K.P. (2009) Smart Grid Meets IEC 61850. APAP 2009, Jejou. Korea, Paper P277.
Arriola, J., Andersson, L., and Bernstein, T. (2010) PRIME as Open Communication Base for IEC61850 on the Distribution Network.
Cigre Paris Session, Paper D2_B5_109_2010.
Steinhauser, F. and Vandiver, B. (2015) How Fast Does the GOOSE fly? pacworld, June, pp. 39–43.
Wimmer, W. (2010) Engineering a System of Systems. Pacworld Conference in Dublin, June 2015, Paper P043, 10 pp.

References – Standards
IEC 60870-5 (1990–2013) Telecontrol Equipment and Systems – Part 5: Transmission Protocols.
IEC 61850 Ed1 (2002–2005) Communication Networks and Systems in Substations.
IEC 61850-4 Ed2 (2011) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 4: System and Project
Management.
IEC 61850-5 Ed2 (2013) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 5: Communication Requirements
for Functions and Device Models.
IEC 61850-6 Ed2 (2009) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 6: Configuration Description
Language for Communication in Electrical Substations Related to IEDs.
IEC 61850-7-2 Ed2 (2010) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 7-2: Basic Communication
Structure for Substation and Feeder Equipment – Abstract Communication Service Interface (ACSI).
IEC 61850-7-3 Ed2 (2010) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 7-3: Basic Communication
Structure for Substation and Feeder Equipment – Common Data Classes.
IEC 61850-7-4 Ed1 (2003) Communication Networks and Systems in Substation Automation – Part 7-4: Basic Communication Struc-
ture for Substation and Feeder Equipment – Compatible Logical Node Classes and Data Classes.
IEC 61850-7-4 Ed2 (2010) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 7-4: Basic Communication
Structure for Substation and Feeder Equipment – Compatible Logical Node Classes and Data Classes.
IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2 (2011) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 8-1: Specific Communication
Service Mapping (SCSM) – Mappings to MMS (ISO 9506-1 and ISO 9506-2) and to ISO/IEC 8802-3.
IEC 61850-8-2 (2015) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 8-2: Specific Communication Ser-
vice Mapping (SCSM) – Mapping to Extensible Messaging Presence Protocol (XMPP) (draft in circulation as CD for comments/not
yet published).
IEC 61850-9-2 Ed2 (2011) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 9-2: Specific Communication
Service Mapping (SCSM) – Sampled Values over ISO/IEC 8802-3.

Smart Grid Handbook, Online © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This article is © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This article was published in the Smart Grid Handbook in 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118755471.sgd046
26 Smart Grid Handbook

IEC TR 61850-90-3 Ed1 (2016) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 90-3: Using IEC 61850
for Condition Monitoring Diagnosis and Analysis (draft in circulation not yet published).
Draft IEC TR 61850-90-6 Ed1 (2015) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 90-6: Use of IEC
61850 for Distribution Automation Systems (draft in circulation for comments/not yet published).
IEC 61850-7-410 Ed2 (2012) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 7-410: Basic Communication
Structure – Hydroelectric Power Plants – Communication for Monitoring and Control.
IEC 61850-7-420 Ed1 (2009) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 7-420: Basic Communication
Structure – Distributed Energy Resources Logical Nodes.
IEC 61400-25-2 Ed2 (2015) Wind Turbines – Part 25-2: Communications for Monitoring and Control of Wind Power
Plants – Information Models.
IEC 61400-25-3 Ed2 (2015) Wind Turbines – Part 25-3: Communications for Monitoring and Control of Wind Power
Plants – Information Exchange Models.
IEC TS 61850-80-4 Ed1 (2016) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 80-4: Translation from
COSEM Object Model (IEC 62056) to the IEC 61850 Data Model (work in progress, publication issued for 2016).
IEC TR 61850-90-4 (2013) Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation – Part 90-4: Network Engineering
Guidelines.

Smart Grid Handbook, Online © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This article is © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This article was published in the Smart Grid Handbook in 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118755471.sgd046