IEC 61850 Substation Communication Network Performance & Reliability Assessment Based on Network Real Time Operating Data

The optimal performance of power grid depends on many factors, and one of which is the reliability of the substation communication network. These substation communication networks are required for real time monitoring and control of the power grid. Power grid operators are always eager to know the behavior of the substation communication network to enable the operators perform real time monitoring and control function of the power grid through the communication network. Substation communication network historical data and real time operating data are vital requirements for effective design of a robust and reliable communication network. These communication networks historical data are also required for predicting future performance of the grid network. This paper has demonstrated the successful use of communication network collected data (that is historical data) to determine the reliability and performance of an IEC 61850 substation communication network. The key findings of this study are that increased data rate of an IEC 61850 based communication network, reduces the network latency and the implementation of network redundancy scheme improved the network reliability. Also, increased data rate and implementation of network redundancy scheme improved the derived communication network reliability averagely by 3.8% over fifteen years period. The derived communication network improved reliability was also found to meets the IEC 61850 transfer time requirements required for performing substation protection, monitoring and control functions.