Conventional testing in times of IEC61850

Abstract

With the advent of IEC61850 standardization, increasingly more power utilities adopt a standardized environment with modern Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) in their substations. As a consequence, conventional test procedures face a future of uncertainty, and established testing routines are called into question. The functionalities and new protection system arrangements of IEDs cause changes in maintenance routines which imply re-thinking of protective panel design. The authors identify existing requirements and how they influence panel design and evaluate to what degree new technologies affect the use of traditional test interfaces for relay testing.