A Study of Wireless Communication for Substation Automation

Abstract

Over the years, several new technologies have been implemented in order to automate substations, which constitute an integral part of any electric power system. With the advent of the fully automated power grid, known as smart grid, many nations have been able to achieve this. The new international standard IEC 61850 offers several benefits for the design of a substation, the most significant one being the elimination of wired technologies, which has been replaced by wireless technologies such as ZigBee, WiMAX, WLAN, Wireless HART, etc. Wired technology poses several disadvantages such as the need for trenches, manual labor required for assembling and testing of wires and complex installation methods. Wireless technologies act as an easy solution, making wired communication redundant. Thus, extensive research and development of wireless technologies for substation automation is a necessity. This article provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art existing wireless technologies with regards to their features, short comings as well as future work to be incorporated, in order to facilitate further development in this field.