Challenges and Lessons Learned from

Commissioning an IEC 61850-90-5 Based

Synchrophasor SystemVahid Madani - Pacific Gas & Electric

Stéphan Picard, Yujie Yin, Mark AdamiakGE Digital Energy

Texas A&M Relay Conference 2015

IntroductionImplementation ProcessCommissioning ProcessGeneral and Specific Lessons LearnedConclusions

Outline

How do you ensure the smooth installation of 432 PMUs and 26 Aggregate PDCs across a 70,000 sq mi service territory?

Introduction

Source: www.pge.com

Scale of the SolutionCutting Edge Technology (availability of implementation, developing standards)Multi-Vendor SolutionGeographical DistancesProduction EnvironmentEnd-user Compliance RequirementsTraining for All Parties Involved

Main Challenges

System OverviewPMU and PDC Naming ConventionDeployment in NERC CIP Environment

Implementation Process

System Summary

STN Name SS_511_B1_1P_ACSS is the substation identification511 refers a 500 kV (5) multifunctional relay (11)B is followed by the Bay number1P is for the P-Class stream out of the 1st magnetic module AC is one of the two redundant systems

ID Code 200132 is the voltage level (115 kV, 230 kV, 500 kV, 60 kV)00 is the substation number1 is the PMU device number (in that substation)3 is the PMU instance of a given PMU device

PMU & PDC Naming Convention

PMU and PDC Access Limited by Strong PasswordsRBAC (Role-based Access Control) & RADIUSThird-party Communication Tests

Denial of Service AttacksNetwork CongestionPing of DeathPassword Attack…

NERC CIP Environment

Proof of ConceptPilot Site VerificationPMU Testing at the SubstationsAggregate PDC TestingSystem Level Testing

Commissioning Process

Proof of Concept

Power System &Virtual PMUs

Real PMUs

AggregatePDCs Network

BreakerSimulator

SecondaryInjection

Amplifiers

3 sites selected for easy access by the field teamsProve end-to-end connectivity under real conditionsRefine the procedures with field-specific details

Pilot Sites

Multi-functional relays upgraded to PMU functionality to Remedial Action Scheme devicesRedundant system and standard clearance allowed for RAS and PMU testingPMU configured for automatic 90-5 streaming on power up

PMU Testing at Substations

More relaxed testing:Not a production environment90-5 means no command needed to be sent to PMUsHierarchical construction means upper levels were not yet dependant on PDC

Aggregate PDC Testing

PMU to Fault Location to EMSPMU to Super PDC

System Level Testing

Errors in the Standard TextE.g. the count of bytes was required.

Interpretation of Standards Vary Among PartiesAlthough C37.118-2005 specified that “Phasor messages shall also be mapped in their entirety into […] TCP or […] UDP.”, we encountered:

1. TCP commands and TCP data2. UDP commands and UDP data3. TCP commands and UDP data4. No command, unsolicited configuration frame and UDP data

What have we learned?

Protection Engineers and ITDo I need to say more?

Do not trust the Specs!It is easy to lose track of the important pieces when dealing with such a large system: CT/VT errors, clock precision, relay precision, … Do not take the received measurement accuracy/precision for granted

IEEE 1588 and IRIG-B Time SourcesPMU on 1588 and Aggregate PDC on IRIG-B allowed the discovery of discrepancies between clocks

What have we learned?

Implementation AgreementIEC 61850-90-5 Data transmission

Unicast for LAN communication (eg substation)Network-assisted Multicast for WAN comm (eg enterprise-level)

Setting File Conformity ToolsWith a few 1000’s settings in each PDCs and a few 100’s in each PMUs, it is easy to make mistake and diverge from established internal standards.

Monitoring ports and Network Traffic Tools

What have we implemented?

Testing Procedures

What have we implemented?

Progress Tracking ToolsThe extent of the work involved, combined with the intermittent nature of working on a live system, made it necessary to have a detailed work progress tracking mechanism

What have we implemented?

This is doable but it requires:Strong Technical LeadGreat Deal of Collaboration and FlexibilityMethodical and Systematic Approach to Realisation

And do not trust the specs!

Conclusions

Thank You

Questions?