IEC 61850-based volt-var control specifications for unified use in multiple power utilities

IEC 61850 is a series of international standards for various aspects of substation automation systems (SASs) including functional elements named logical nodes (LNs). Currently, intelligent electronic device (IED) vendors individually select LNs to build their own IEDs, so it is difficult to construct a SAS in a multivendor environment. One solution is to create functional specifications that can be commonly adopted by multiple electric utilities in a country or region. This paper focuses on volt-var control (VVC) and proposes specifications for implementing the VVC functions commonly for multiple electric utilities. It explains two types of VVC systems and their functions, and proposes policies to design mapping the functions to LNs. It also depicts and considers the mapping results obtained according to the policies, and confirms their effects and feasibility.