Software for smarter grids

The CIGRE Session 2016 is bringing experts from the energy industry together with participants coming in from over 90 countries. COPA-DATA has been offering its HMI/SCADA software in this environment for many years and the in-house designed drivers guarantee adherence to international standards such as IEC 61850 Edition 2, IEC 61400-25, IEC 60870 and DNP3. 

At booth 140, on the first exhibition level, COPA-DATA and JS automation will introduce new highlights on the subject of Automated Engineering and the newest Command Sequencer zenon module for configuring complex command sequences even without PLC programming.

Command Sequencer
The Command Sequencer is a new zenon module that can be used to configure, test and execute command sequences. The command sequences for the automation of substations are configured in an editor. The individual commands, also known as steps, are simply lined up together graphically. Testing is possible in a simulated environment and the engineer can make changes directly. PLC programming is not necessary.

Complex command sequences can be configured with the Command Sequencer - parallel branches for simultaneous use of switching commands, alternative branches for transitions or changing two-stage into one-stage commands to avoid unwanted stops.

“A highlight is clearly the Teaching function of our Command Sequencer. Here, the system learns the command sequence while the user carries out the individual steps in simulation mode, in the usual single-line diagram. The command sequence editor records the actions and turns them into a sequence of commands. This can be tested and then used immediately,” explained Jürgen Resch, Industry Manager Energy at COPA-DATA.

Automated engineering with zenon
Integration in an existing configuration tool is carried out quickly by zenon, thanks to the API (Application Programming Interface). As a result, project planning is simplified as zenon adjusts itself to the known configuration environment of the HMI. The wizards in the zenon Energy Edition for the IEC 61850-based SSD and SCD import also offer increased automated engineering.

The SCD import (System Configuration Description) reads the SCD file and creates communication configuration using the displayed data model of a substation therein. The report control blocks can be assigned to the various hosts per drag and drop. The variables can be imported using the linked dataset information. As a result, a complete driver configuration with variable lists is created quickly, establishing direct communication with an SCD template to the devices.

The SSD Import Wizard (System Specification Description) in zenon automatically creates a functioning single-line diagram from an SSD file. The generated graphic including the linked variables can be configured at any time later in the zenon Editor.

HMI talks GOOSE
GOOSE messages (Generic Object Oriented Substation Events) distribute status information within IEC 61850 environments. Connected devices receive this information and use it to complete specific tasks. HMI applications using zenon can listen in corresponding status messages via GOOSE. Using GOOSE supervision, zenon monitors time intervals between sent messages and checks if they are complete.

The HMI becomes the monitoring application for GOOSE communication. If necessary, zenon can go a step further. If, for example, a device that communicates via GOOSE were to malfunction, the zenon HMI would step in and manually transmit entered values to the remaining devices. This GOOSE substitution means that tasks continue until the faulty device is replaced. Apart from the GOOSE protocol, zenon includes a further 300 communication protocols as standard.