Organisational impact of implementing IEC 61850 standard for communication networks and systems in substations

The lack of international standards for communication within a substation led to the development of proprietary protocols by utilities and vendors. The impact on utilities was complex and required expensive solutions, and limitations in multiple vendor solutions for substations infrastructure. Towards the end of the 20th century there was a compelling requirement in the power industry to standardise protocols for substation automation systems that would enable multiple vendor substation solutions. The requirement prompted the development of the IEC 61850 standard in 1997, a standard for Communication Networks and Systems in Substation. A case study was conducted at Eskom to establish the relationships between the substation function consolidation (enabled by technological advancement) and IEC 61850 standard, as well as organisational structure and the skills required by the power utilities. The case study findings highlighted that the skills and competency requirements were not properly defined, measured or monitored, nor was an alignment to the existing organisational structures defined. Based on the findings the authors propose a framework model to map the requirements of IEC 61850 with the capabilities of the organisation, and formulate a potential solution for the implementation of the IEC 61850 standard.