Hardware In The Loop Simulation of the Smart Grid with the inclusion of IEC61850 Communication Protocol

Abstract

Smart gird is intelligent and interactive among its power devices using the communication network running a protocol for reliable transfer of messages from one device to another or with the system operator for critical operation and control of the substation. Employing protocol such as IEC61850 globally in the electrical substation need to be well tested for time critical operations, physical security of the substation with proper logic implementation for power flow in case of an event. If the substation is connected to the internet then the problem gets more complex with respect to cyber security challenges faced over this protocol.In this work, Hardware-in-the-loop simulation methodology of Smart grid including the physical IEC61850 communication net-work layer using Intelligent electronic devices of circuit breakers is presented. GOOSE messages and MMS server communication using IEC61850 in the smart grids are investigated inside the real-time simulation boundaries. The unique aspect of this work is the logic implementation among the protection devices are tested with real communication delays over the protocol that can occur between them, and these results are more realistic matching the real world scenario.