Power system protection and control testing

in a fully virtualized environment

Mehdi ZEYENI
Smart Infrastructure – Digital Grid
SIEMENS SAS
2 rue de la Neva, 38000 Grenoble, France
[email protected]

Abstract— Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) is a crucial step in

the validation of the protection and control system in a power Remote
substation or network. To guarantee the conformity and Control Center
reliability of the protection and control solution prior to its
integration in the power network, it is necessary for the FAT to
be performed in conditions that are as representative of the
reality as possible. This necessity usually involves the deployment
of important and costly material and human resources. This HMI
Substation
Automation
Engineering

paper presents an innovative approach for the implementation of Station

Level
a fully virtualized test platform for testing a protection and
control system based on a Siemens solution. This virtualized test Station Bus
platform provides a powerful and flexible virtual environment
for performing FAT in realistic conditions, without having to
support the various costly constraints associated with physical
platforms (equipment’s procurement, assembly, wiring, power Bay IED IED IED
supply, ...). Besides the Devices Under Test (Protection Relays Level

and Bay Control Units), the substation’s primary equipment

(circuit breakers, disconnectors, etc.) are also modelized and I/O I/O I/O

simulated at the virtualized platform level. The virtualized test

platform presented in this paper is based on the Siemens Siprotec
Process Level
5 Digital Twin, which is a real-time digital replica of a physical (Primary Equipment)
Siprotec 5 device including interfaces, functions and algorithms.
The ease of implementation and use of the Siprotec 5 Digital
Twin, combined with the flexibility and power of its features,
make it the key element of the virtualized test platform. Fig. 1. Substation’s protection, automation and control system

Keywords— Protection and Control System FAT, Virtualized

test platform, Siprotec 5 Digital Twin A. Bay Level
The Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED) located at the bay
I. INTRODUCTION level represent the key elements of the protection and control
scheme. The bay-level IEDs consist mainly of Protection
Power network digital protection and control schemes are Relays (PR) and Bay Control Units (BCU) which host and
complex decentralized systems, composed of several elements process the different protection functions algorithms and
distributed over the entire electric network at power substations control logics. As its name indicates, in terms of functional
and control centers. This decentralization results in significant boundaries, a bay-level IED is usually dedicated to a single
interactions and data exchanges between the different system’s substation bay. From the functional testing point of view, the
components, which in turn, usually involves the deployment of bay-level IEDs constitute the main Devices Under Test (DUT)
important and costly material and human resources to of the whole protection and control system.
implement the end-to-end testing of the different protection and
control functions. B. Station Level
Fig. 1 represents an overview of a typical modern power The components of the protection and control system
substation digital protection, automation and control system. located at the station level consist mainly of the Substation
The major components that constitute this system can be Automation System (SAS) and the Human Machine Interface
classified in three distinct categories, according to their (HMI). The Substation Automation System collects, centralizes
hierarchical automation level: and processes the data generated from the different sources
(bay-level IEDs, remote control centers, …) and transmits them software applications installed and running on a couple of
to the appropriate destinations. In particular, the substation standalone personal computers (PC). The remote control center
remote control and monitoring from the control centers is system can also be implemented on a single PC without much
performed through the SAS. The HMI is used by substation effort. On the other hand, the bay-level IEDs are generally
operators to monitor and control the substation locally. mounted and wired in dedicated cubicles and, according to the
number of bays, providing, wiring and powering all of them
C. Process Level during the FAT, could involve the deployment of important
The low voltage (LV) circuits of primary equipment located and costly material and human resources. Finally, the process-
at the process level, constitute the last major components of the level primary equipment are generally not available during the
protection and control system. Circuit breakers (CB) and protection and control system FAT and providing or modelling
disconnector switches (DS) control drives, as well as secondary them involves in most cases, important and costly material
circuits of current and voltage transformers (CT/VT) belong to resources [1].
this category.
III. VIRTUALIZED TEST PLATFORM OBJECTIVES
In order to implement the necessary protection functions
algorithms and control logics, the different components The purpose of this paper is to present a fully virtualized
represented in Fig. 1 must communicate together. In terms of platform architecture in which, the physical components of the
signals exchange and data communication, we assume that: protection and control system shown in Fig 1 are replaced by
their “virtualized” versions. In order to be functional in a
· The bay-level IEDs communicate with the station-level practical point of view, the virtualized platform must fulfill two
equipment through an IEC 61850-8-1 station bus. essential conditions: Its behavior must be identical to that of
· The signals exchange between the bay-level IEDs and the real system, and it must be easy to implement. The degree
the process-level primary equipment is done through of accuracy of the similarity between the physical equipment
conventional hardwired cables including both digital and its virtualized version is particularly fundamental for
I/Os and CT/VT current and voltage analog signals. virtualized IEDs, as they constitute the main system’s DUT.
· Data exchange between the different bay-level IEDs can The fully virtualized platform presented in the following
be performed directly through conventional hardwired sections, meets both conditions and provides a practical
cables (digital I/Os) as well as through station bus IEC environment to simulate, test and validate a complete
61850-8-1 GOOSE communication. protection and control system in practical conditions, while
· Data communication between the Substation avoiding the physical constraints.
Automation System and the remote control centers is
performed according to the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol. IV. SIEMENS SIPROTEC 5 DIGITAL TWIN
Based on the presentation above, it is obvious that from the In modern substation’s control and protection scheme based
functional testing point of view, bay-level IEDs represent the on Siemens solutions, the bay-level IEDs are physically
key elements of the protection and control systems: On the one implemented by Siprotec 5 numerical relays. This section
hand, they are the equipment on which the major protection presents the Siemens cloud-based Siprotec 5 Digital Twin, as
function algorithms and control logics are implemented and on the key element of the virtualized test platform.
the other hand, they communicate and exchange data with all
other system’s components. For this reason, as already A. General Presentation
mentioned, bay-level IEDs constitute the main Devices Under
The Siemens Siprotec 5 Digital Twin is a real-time digital
Test (DUT) of the whole protection and control system.
replica of a physical Siprotec 5 device, generated through a
Conversely, even though the process-level primary equipment
very easy-to-implement virtualization process as pictured in
are inseparable components of the whole protection and control
Fig. 2. The so obtained Digital Twin, provides features and
system, they are not really considered as DUT from the
behavior identical to the real configured equipment. Moreover,
functional testing point of view.
the Digital Twin can replace the real system’s physical IED
without requiring any additional engineering or manual
II. CONVENTIONAL FAT CONSTRAINTS adaptation. This characteristic is fundamental to guarantee that
Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) is a crucial step in the the simulations and the tests results obtained with the Siprotec
validation of the protection and control system in a power 5 Digital Twin are transposable to the physical IED.
substation or network. To guarantee the conformity and Physical Siprotec 5 Siprotec 5 Digital Twin
reliability of the protection and control solution prior to its (Real Configured Equipment)
SW HW Virtualization
(Digital Replica)

integration in the power network, it is necessary for the FAT to Process

be performed in conditions that are as representative of the

reality as possible. In practical terms it means that during the
FAT, we should ideally be able to implement and test the FW

complete protection and control system represented in Fig. 1.

Among the different system components of Fig. 1, the
station-level equipment (SAS and HMI) are the easiest to
implement during the FAT, as they are generally limited to Fig. 2. The Digital Twin is a real-time digital replica of a physical relay
B. Virtualization Process The ease of implementation and use of the Siprotec 5
Generating a “ready to use” Digital Twin from a real Digital Twin, combined with the flexibility and power of its
configured Siprotec 5 relay is a straightforward task, features and functionalities, allows to easily and quickly
achievable in a couple of minutes without additional effort, replace any Siprotec 5 IED integrated in a physical system, by
through five simple steps: its identical Digital Twin.

i. Open the Siprotec 5 configuration tool (DIGSI 5) V. PRIMARY EQUIPMENT MODELLING AND SIMULATION
ii. Export the configured relay(s) to a “.sim” file
iii. Connect to the Cloud (via a secured VPN session) As already mentioned, providing or modelling the primary
iv. Import the “.sim” file equipment control drives during FAT involves in most cases,
v. Run the generated Siprotec 5 Digital Twin(s) important resources in terms of costs and time. Furthermore, as
represented in Fig. 4, the binary signals exchange between
Fig. 3 represents a Siprotec 5 Digital Twin running in the primary equipment control drives and bay-level IEDs is
cloud-based simulation environment. implemented through hardwired cables. This fact constitutes an
additional constraint in terms of FAT implementation.
C. Features and Functionalities
The Siprotec 5 Digital Twin provides a powerful and
The Siprotec 5 Digital Twin behavior is globally identical flexible way to model and simulate the missing physical
to that of the original equipment, and particularly regarding the primary equipment, with a few efforts. The main idea is to use
following features and functionalities: the Siprotec 5 Digital Twin to model both the physical
· Operation panel commands and indications (keypads, behavior and the electrical interfaces of the real LV control
key switches, display views and menus, LEDs…). drive: The physical behavior is modelled by means of the
· Protection functions algorithms, control and automation Siprotec 5 Continuous Flow Chart (CFC) logic and the
logics, settings, … electrical interfaces (i.e. the Open/Close auxiliary contacts) are
· Communication and online testing and diagnosis with modelled through the Siprotec 5 binary I/Os.
the engineering tool (DIGSI 5). Fig. 5 represents the communication between a simulated
· Communication with station-level equipment (IEC primary equipment and a simulated IED, as implemented in the
61850-8-1 MMS Server). virtual test platform environment.
· Communication with other bay-level IEDs (IEC 61850-
8-1 GOOSE). The following features are some non-restrictive examples
· Communication through the relay’s protection interface of primary equipment’s physical behaviors modelled with the
(e.g. for differential protection scheme). Siprotec 5 Digital Twin:
· Web Browser communication for device monitoring · CB tripping / closing orders and open / close positions
(device information, settings, measurements, logs…). signaling (unipolar / tripolar).
Further to the characteristics inherent to the Digital Twin as · CB pole discrepancy.
mentioned above, the cloud-based simulation environment · DS opening / closing orders and open / close positions
integrates the following tools and facilities in order to provide signaling.
additional interactions with the Siprotec 5 Digital Twin through Modelling and simulating the primary equipment with the
its analog and binary I/Os: Siprotec 5 Digital Twin provides the following benefits:
· Setting (forcing) the Digital Twin’s binary inputs. · The real primary equipment can be easily substituted by
· Injection of single-phase and three-phase current and their equivalent virtual models to form “virtual bays”.
voltage sinusoidal signals to the Digital Twin analog
inputs. (feature used for simulating the process-level Real Primary Equipment Real IED
(Circuit Breaker, Disconnector, ...) (Siprotec 5 Relay)
CT/VT secondary currents and voltages). O/C
· Virtual I/O wiring between two or more Siprotec 5 Auxiliary
Hardwired
cable wiring
Binary Protection
I/O
Digital Twins. LV Control Drive
Physical behaviour
contacts Algorithms
&
CFC Logic

Fig. 4. Communication between real primary equipment and relay

Simulated Primary Equipment Simulated IED

(Siprotec 5 Digital Twin) (Siprotec 5 Digital Twin)

Binary Virtual I/O Binary

LV Control Drive Protection
I/O wiring I/O
Physical behaviour Algorithms
Modelled with &
CFC Logic CFC Logic

Fig. 5. Communication between simulated primary equipment and relay

Fig. 3. Siprotec 5 Digital Twin running in the simulation environment
 · The virtual model can be easily refined or upgraded and · In terms of network communication, all the IEC 61850
is more flexible than the hardware simulators MMS and GOOSE messages configured in the physical
commonly used during conventional FAT. system, are automatically published and exchanged
· The physical cables between primary equipment and the between the corresponding virtualized communicants
real IED are replaced by strictly identical virtual I/O without requiring any additional engineering or manual
wiring between two Siprotec 5 Digital Twins. This adaptation.
essential feature results in a Digital Twin with strictly · The process-level primary equipment are substituted by
the same binary I/O assignment as the physical relay, so appropriate Siprotec 5 Digital Twins which model and
avoiding any potentially time-consuming I/O simulate their behavior and electrical interfaces.
reassignment in the Digital Twin side. · The signals exchange between the bay-level IEDs and
the process-level primary equipment is done through
VI. FULLY VIRTUALIZED TEST PLATFORM ARCHITECTURE virtual I/O wirings between Digital Twins.
· The CT/VT current and voltage analog signals are
Based on the elements described above, the physical generated and injected via the simulation environment.
substation’s protection, automation and control system of the
· The virtual machines and the cloud-based Siprotec 5
Fig. 1 can be virtualized according to the platform architecture
simulation session are running on a single PC.
represented in Fig. 6. In this fully virtualized test platform:
· The remote control centers are not represented in Fig. 6
· The station-level components (i.e. the Sicam PAS SAS, as the communication between the SAS and the higher
the Sicam SCC HMI and the DIGSI 5 IED automation levels is not the main subject of this paper.
configuration tool) are virtualized by installing and However, this communication can also be virtualized
running the corresponding software applications on one with an additional virtual machine.
or several virtual machines.
· Each bay-level physical Siprotec 5 IED is simply VII. FURTHER APPLICATIONS
replaced by its Digital Twin. This substitution is totally
transparent as seen from the system. Although the focus of this paper is on fully visualized test
platforms, the application area of the Siprotec 5 Digital Twin is
VM(s)
not limited to the fully virtual schemes, but it covers also the
integration in real substation automation systems. In other
SICAM SICAM
SCC PAS
DIGSI 5 words, in real protection and control systems, it is possible to
Station replace any physical Siprotec 5 relay by its Digital Twin in a
Level totally transparent way for tests purposes, as far as the concern
is limited to the relays’ behavior and the communication
interfaces as described in section IV.C of this paper.
IEC 61850 Station Bus MMS MMS
The “virtual bay” presented in this paper gives only an
example of the various abilities offered by the Siprotec 5
Cloud Digital Twin in the modelling and simulating domain. As
Session GOOS E another application, one can imagine modelling and simulating
the voltage regulator, the OLTC (On-Load Tap Changer) or
Bay IED IED
Digital Digital
any other substation primary equipment.
Level
Twin Twin
Virtual I/O
Wiring
VIII. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we presented a flexible and powerful virtual
Virtual I/O Virtual I/O environment which allows to perform easily the control and
Wiring Wiring
protection system FAT in realistic conditions, without having
Process
to support the various costly and time-consuming constraints
Level Injected Injected associated with physical platforms.
V, I V, I
(CB, DS) In this regard, the Siprotec 5 Digital Twin plays an essential
Virtual Virtual role as the key element of the virtualized test platform
Bay Bay implementation. Indeed, besides to being able to stand in for
the system’s physical IEDs, it offers a powerful and flexible
way of modelling and simulating the missing primary
Process equipment in terms of physical behavior and electrical
Level interfaces, with a few efforts.
(CT, VT)

REFERENCES
[1] L. Chen, T. Charton, H. Li, R. Zhang, “Virtual site acceptance test
platform for IEC 61850 based substations with multi-vendor bay
Fig. 6. Fully virtualized test platform architecture
solutions”, J. Eng., 2018, Vol. 2018 Iss. 15, pp. 791-795.