In what is describes as a milestone achievement, leading power and automation technology group ABB has completed its first commercial substation automation system using IEC 61850-9-2 process bus technology. The new standard-compliant system, installed for the Australian utility Powerlink, provides advanced automation functions, designed to enhance availability and reliability, at Loganlea, a key substation serving the fast growing region of south-east Queensland.
IEC 61850-9-2 process bus, based on the international substation automation standard IEC 61850, enables current and voltage measurements to be transmitted to protection and control devices via a fibre-optic communication network, resulting, says ABB, in reduced copper cabling and increased safety. The process bus also supports the standardised integration of non-conventional instrument transformers (NCITs), bringing performance improvements and further reductions in cost and space requirements. NCITs improve safety because they eliminate the risk of voltage hazards, which can arise in conventional transformer circuits.
The Loganlea project has seen the replacement of the ABB proprietary communication to the existing NCITs with a smart substation automation protection and control system, featuring the world’s first conformance-tested IEC 61850-9-2 merging units and ABB’s protection and control IEDs (intelligent electronic devices). These deliveries bring Loganlea substation into full compliance with the most advanced global standard for substation automation.
