All through electrical substations change continues to surge.
For many years, utilities routed energy from centralized sources. Now they’re orchestrating energy technology throughout various and distributed sources, together with renewables like wind and photo voltaic. Substations are also navigating extra complicated calls for as we electrify transportation reminiscent of EV–with a rising phase of consumers consuming and producing electrical energy.
What is going to it take to evolve substations to deal with operational, customer support, value effectivity, and environmental objectives?
The reply is sustained funding in substation automation and digitization to create an clever and safe electrical supply system that depends on communications and data know-how. Cisco calls this the New Digital Substation. In contrast to conventional operations, the New Digital Substation handles extra sustainable, distributed, and variable power provides in addition to fluctuating demand all in actual time.
Constructing on greater than a decade of expertise supporting substation automation, Cisco lately printed the Substation Automation 3.0 Design Information. This Cisco Validated Design (CVD) builds on earlier options supporting SCADA operational methods – and it stands out for 4 new and differentiated capabilities. Within the quest for larger flexibility, effectivity, and safety, these have change into must-haves within the New Digital Substation.
Should-have #1: Resilient, Digital Operations
The business is shifting to attach extra tools utilizing customary, open communications which might be designed to digitally function substation tools. These functions require way more from the community than the standard SCADA based mostly functions: low-latency, extremely resilient and synchronization companies.
We designed the Cisco Catalyst IE3x00 and IE9300 Rugged Collection Switches and the Cisco Catalyst IR1100 and IR8340 Rugged Collection Routers to assist substation automation functions based mostly on IEC 61850 – the worldwide customary that defines communication protocols for clever digital units inside substations. These units additionally assist different substation communication protocols and might combine with a number of legacy {hardware}.
Should-have #2: Large bandwidth, small footprint
Cisco’s newest substation structure options upgraded routing and switching options. The IR8340 {hardware} and IE9300 switches present larger bandwidth together with extra options in smaller bodily footprints. As such, they will assist the next amount of linked units and functions whereas addressing objectives for operational effectivity and operational value containment.
The IR8340 is a router, change, firewall, and exact timing module. The stackable IE9300 helps high-density fiber ports to resiliently join a lot of substation tools whereas offering visibility of the substation units and communication. Each additionally act as cyber safety brokers for the substation and have edge compute functionality.
Should-have #3: Simplified community administration
Traditionally, grid operations groups haven’t wanted IT or community administration expertise as they depend on “one and finished” deployments. As operations change into more and more digital, utilities have to handle and monitor the networks to take care of uptime.
The Substation Automation 3.0 structure reduces the necessity for community experience. It incorporates Cisco DNA Middle and Cisco Software program-Outlined WAN (SD-WAN) applied sciences – which centralizes, simplifies, and automates community deployment and administration. Utilizing these instruments, a smaller crew can handle units with zero-touch configuration and upkeep.
Should-have #4: Cyber safety; visibility, safety and compliance
As a part of any group’s crucial infrastructure, substations have to be hardened in opposition to cyber-security threats. Cisco’s Substation Automation 3.0 structure upgrades cyber safety capabilities together with Cisco Cyber Imaginative and prescient to offer larger visibility and safety throughout the total ecosystem of linked units.
This visibility and safety make it doable to flag suspicious communications and defend the tools earlier than they compromise grid safety. Enhanced safety and administration additionally assist tackle rising necessities for cyber certification (e.g. NERC/CIP), together with the necessity to show that important operational processes and procedures are in place.
The brand new power ecosystem is quickly taking form and electrical substations should hold tempo. Contemplate how the Substation Automation 3.0 Design may also help.
As with each Cisco Validated Design, now we have assembled and examined all of the parts of the structure. We have now validated that they tackle resilience and interoperability objectives and now we have examined their skill to assist core use circumstances, together with integrating with key vendor units and functions.
Study extra
Get an introduction to the brand new Digital Substation in our Substation Automation Resolution Transient. For particulars on designing and implementing the Digital Substation, see our Substation Automation Design and Implementation Guides.
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