The scope of study committee (SC) B5 “Protection and Automation” covers the basic principles, design, application and management of power system protection, substation control, automation, monitoring, recording and metering. Associated topics include internal and external communications and interfacing for remote control and monitoring. The added value of SC B5 is the collection of best practices, the evaluation of the capability of existing protection systems to operate correctly in rapidly changing environment and the promotion of new protection solutions.
The activity of SC B5 supports the Cigrè technical committee strategic plan mainly in two strategic directions:
• Electric power system of the future
• Making the best use of existing systems
To fulfill its mandate SC B5 has currently 21 working groups in operation structured under three thematic groups:
• Substation automation covering aspects of coordinated and integrated systems for protection and automation of substations.
• Protection and monitoring of primary plant and circuits, to maintain power system security, limit plant damage and ensure the safety of personnel.
• New network requirements focusing on the design and application of digital technology and modern communication systems for the benefit of existing and future networks with increasing level of renewable generation, smart grid techniques and power electronics.
Working groups (WG) are dedicated to a specific task with defined terms of reference and predetermined time limits, usually two years. In support of SC B5 operation two advisory groups, viz. “strategic” and “tutorial” are active permanently.
SC B5 membership covers 24 countries with full membership and 16 countries with observer member status. There are 14 corresponding members representing South Africa on various WGs currently.
In 2013 – 2022 SC B5 strategic plan the following priorities for future developments were identified:
• The impact of integration of renewable energy systems and distributed energy resources on protection systems
• Development and implementation of advanced protection solutions, including solutions based on the new communications technologies
• Supporting the development and implementation of new international standards in the domains of substation automation and protection
• Tools, concepts and systems for protection and automation life time management
New WGs called for during the 2013 SC B5 colloquium are:
• Testing strategy for protection automation and control functions in a full digital substation based on IEC 61850
• Analysis and comparison of fault locator systems for different applications
• Protection and automation challenges during system restorations and black start conditions and on islanded systems
The following technical brochures have been published over the last few years:
TB 546 – Protection, monitoring and control of shunt reactors
TB 540 – IEC 61850 standard to protection schemes
TB 539 – Life-time management of relay settings
TB 479 – International guide on the protection of synchronous generators
TB 466 – Engineering guidelines for IEC 61850 based digital SAS
TB 465 – Modern techniques for protecting and monitoring of transmission Lines
TB 464 – Maintenance strategies for digital substation automation systems
TB 463 – Modern techniques for protecting, controlling and monitoring power transformers
TB 448 – Refurbishment strategies based on life cycle cost and technical constraints
TB 432 – Protection relay coordination
TB 431 – Modern techniques for protecting busbars in HV networks
TB 427 – The impact of implementing cyber security requirements using IEC 61850
Contact Rob Stephen, Eskom, Tel 031 563-0063, rob.stephen@eskom.co.za