Digital Substation is an engineering publication focused on IEC 61850 automation, protection systems, and digital grid intelligence.
CIGRE Study Committee B5 has opened Working Group B5.90, tasked with writing the first dedicated guidelines for commissioning and testing of fully digital protection and automation control systems. The Terms of Reference, published in January 2026, cover FAT, SAT, and operational testing for IEC 61850 process bus architectures.
The UCA IUG conformance registry documents 1,650 test records across three IEC 61850 editions. To read the numbers, you need to know the policy behind them: who sets the transition deadlines, when Edition 2-only testing ended, and why 2023 produced a record spike. This article traces the process.
In 2023, fourteen European TSOs signed a common statement on IEC 61850 engineering and demonstrated a working proof of concept. Their five-step top-down process — backed by two new IEC technical reports — changes how utilities, IED suppliers, and tool vendors interact. Here is what they built and why it matters.
XML Schema validation checks structure — it cannot verify that a GOOSE subscription references a valid dataset or that a logical node contains required data objects. Object Constraint Language (OCL) fills that gap. IEC TS 61850-6-3, published in 2025, defines how OCL rules should be written and applied to IEC 61850 XML files, laying the groundwork for consistent, formal SCL validation across tools.
Last year Relyum launched a time-aware Redbox-DAN PCIe network interface RELY-SYNC-HSR/PRP-PCIe. Taking a brief look at the device.
IEC TC 57 released the CDV of the first amendment to IEC 61850-7-1 (“Communication networks and systems for power utility automation — Part 7-1: Basic communication structure — Principles and models”) — IEC 61850-7-1 Amendment 1 (57/2035/CDV). The CDV is now available for comments and voting.
The EN100 Ethernet communication module and SIPROTEC 5 relays are affected by security vulnerabilities which could allow an attacker to conduct a Denial‑of‑Service attack over the network.
The Brainstorm block is a collection of industry experts’ opinions on actual problems. It allows specialists to look at different problems from different perspectives.
150+ IEC 61850 specialists and implementation leaders from around the globe convene in Berlin for a review of the most recent implementations.
120+ utility professionals come together in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 10 to 12 April 2018 to review successes and lessons learnt in the implementation of next generation digital substation technology.
The next session of IEC Technical Committee 57 Working Group 10 (IEC TC57 WG10) responsible for IEC 61850 development takes place in Russia in February.
The 4th annual IEC 61850 Europe conference took place in Amsterdam from the 26th to the 28th of October. We publish online the presentations made at the conference and the impression about the event of one of its participants.
The 4th Annual IEC 61850 Europe 2017 takes place 26-28 September 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with 14+ end-user case-studies from Europe, USA, India & China.