Switchgear Manufacturer achieves Certification to IEC 61850 Conformance

Australian switchgear engineers NOJA Power are celebrating the achievement of certification of their RC-10 Recloser Controller to the IEC 61850 standard for substation communications by German certification provider TÜV Süd. To ensure validity of testing rigour, NOJA Power selected TÜV Süd as the examining partner due to their certification to the ISO 17025 standard for competence in testing and calibration laboratories.

After rigorous assessment, NOJA Power’s RC-10 controller has been delivered certification to the IEC 61850 standard, a strong step towards participating in global standardisation of communications between power system assets.

“Whilst we have had IEC 61850 available in our control for some time this third-party certification now confirms Standards compliance to our customers,” says NOJA Power Group Managing Director Neil O’Sullivan. “IEC 61850 is evolving more and more as the industry standard protocol for substation applications and compatibility between vendors is now reaching levels that allow reliable integration. IEC 61850 is the future of substation communications whilst DNP3 remains the preferred product for the majority for our customers in pole mounted applications. Goose messaging can be used in conjunction with our DNP3 protocol for high speed automation applications as well.”

The NOJA Power OSM Recloser System with RC-10 control is in service in 88 countries globally, with an install base of 55,000 units. All RC-10 controlled devices in service today can be updated to the latest edition of relay firmware, providing all existing users of the platform to enjoy the interoperability of communications that IEC 61850 provides.

IEC 61850 is an international standard designed for communication between intelligent electronic devices in electrical substations focusing on interoperability. The standard describes abstract data models that can be mapped to a number of protocols, including MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) and GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented Substation Events). The object models provided by IEC 61850 allow for modularization of power systems assets, using standard protocol nomenclature for standard features and measurements such as sensors, current or voltage levels.

A key advantage of this protocol is the massive reduction in copper cabling in substation construction, as traditional communication methods are replaced by secure LAN networks over Ethernet and fibre optic media. NOJA Power’s RC-10 controller is in use in multiple IEC 61850 applications, including auto-changeover schemes and publisher-subscriber based automation arrangements.