Power Transmission & Distribution

Power Transmission & Distribution

A power substation is a subsidiary station of an electricity generation, transmission and distribution system where voltage is transformed from high to low or the reverse using transformers. Nowadays, multiple protocols exist for substation automation, which include many proprietary protocols with custom communication links. Interoperation of devices from different vendors would be an advantage to users of substation automation devices. New IEC-61850 international standard for substation automation systems defines the communication between devices in the substation and the related system requirements. It supports all substation automation functions and their engineering:

Application

In next-generation IEC-61850 power substation systems, communication gateways and managed switches play an important role. Fanless designs, managed LANs, isolated I/O, dual power inputs and a 1U Rackmount form factor are necessary in this type of application. Advantech's UNO and EKI series have been successfully implemented into several important applications in this field.

Existing power substations exist many proprietary devices and networks in between. On the way moving toward IEC-61850 standard, it needs communication gateways and Ethernet switches to link those proprietary devices together. Because of harsh working environment in power substation automation, equipments have to be featuredwith robustness design, such as wide operating temperature, isolation I/O, dual power inputs, vibration & shock protection and rackmount installation etc.

To fulfill needs of power substation automation system, Advantech offers: