New Paradigm of a Digital Substation: Breakthrough Solution from Russia

The MAIN JOURNAL for POWER GRID SPECIALISTS in RUSSIA

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August 25–29, France, Paris

Real Time Monitoring

W

orking in concert with the Ministry of 
Energy of Russia represented by Russian 
Energy Agency, International Exhibition 
CIGRE 2014 in France will demonstrate 

the joint technical solution of Russian companies Lysis 
and PROFOTECH. The solution is aimed at automation 
of substations based on the Digital Substation technology. 
It includes optical measuring current and voltage 
transformers, as well as the software complex providing all 
substation protection and control functions and operating 
based on generic server platforms. Solution advantages: 
•  reduction of cost of design, equipment, construction 

and operation of electrical substations; 

•  system safety and reliability increase;
•  reduction of the construction time;
•  project solution typing and conversion to modular 

ready-to-use substations; 

•  a possibility to switch over to non-operated substations. 

We have discussed this unique development with 

Managing Directors of both Companies, namely Oleg 
Rudakov (Profotech CJSC) and David Kishinevskiy (Lysis 
LLC).

— What made you begin 

to develop the new solution? 

O. Rudakov 

— Development of the 

power energy is due to the 
combining of electrical 
network and informational 
infrastructures. Networks 
become more complicated, 
volumes of informational 

fl

 ows 

that ensure management of 
electrical network facilities, 

monitoring of their technical condition, electric power 
quality control and commercial accounting grow in a 
geometrical progression. In turn, this leads to the use 
of expensive smart electronic devices which number 
and price increase at the facilities. Such devices often 
use various data transmission standards, and their 
combining with each other is not easy. Such way 

New Paradigm of a Digital 

Substation: Breakthrough 

Solution from Russia

Lysis, LLC. is a Russian R&D company which is an 

industry expert in the development and manufacture of 
innovative substation control and protection systems. 
The company’s products are based on the Digital 
Substation concept. Our core technology is the state-of-
the-art integrated architecture known as the Intelligent 
Substation Automation System (iSAS). This system is 
implemented as a scalable software “complex” running 
on a standard server platform. 

impedes the development of power energy and industry 
as consequence. This is not only true for Russia, it also 
concerns any industrially developed countries. We believe 
that now, instead of improvement of any equipment within 
the old paradigm, we must review principles of the electric 
power infrastructure construction and approaches.

— What was the essence 

of your method? 

D. Kishinevskiy

— The prerequisite of 

our solution was active 
development of Digital 
Substation technology, 
namely, development of 
standards, which describe 
the information model of 
a substation and exchange 
protocols for its components, 

and equipment, which supports these protocols. The 
essence of our approach is a modi

fi

 cation of substation 

management and safety systems architecture design 
based on data digital processing. Application of 61850 
Protocol described in the Digital Substation technology 
allows obtaining a single digital data 

fl

 ow, characterizing 

the condition of the controlled facility (substation). This 
allows stepping aside from the existing paradigm of the 
substation management and safety system design, where 
each function of automation is performed by a separate 
device, and switching to the software platform of generic 
hardware devices and having free functions distribution. 

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[email protected],   www.eepr.ru

Therefore, a possibility to obtain solutions with both fully 
distributed and centralized architecture appears. Besides, 
application of a uniform software platform, which ensures 
implementation and interaction of functions based on the 
international standard, will allow modifying the hardware 
devices market in the future to design the substation 
management and safety systems and switching to the 
functional algorithms market. In fact, we have developed 
a software environment similar to Apple or Android to 
design electrical substation automation system. 

We believe that we managed to step aside from 

established stereotypes of the electric power facility 
management infrastructure and create a really breakthrough 
innovation. 

Key components, which were used to design the 

solution, are based on the proprietary developments 
of two companies: these are optical digital measuring 
transformers of PROFOTECH and the Digital Automation 
and Management System of Lysis. 

— Please, describe details 

of Your solution’s components.

O. Rudakov

— In fact, our system 

consists of devices, which 
carry out primary and main 
measurement of the electrical 
network parameters and form 
digital information 

fl

 ow, 

transferred via optical cables 
to the safety and management 
system implemented on the 
basis of iSAS@Work software 
platform for industrial servers. 
We use optical digital measuring 
transformers developed and 
produced by Profotech as 
system information sources. 

Optical digital measuring 

transformers are an alternative 
for traditional measuring 
transformers and they are used 

Profotech, CJSC is a Russian manufacturer of 

fi

 ber-

optic systems realizing a revolutionary approach for 
application in electric power industry for the following 
directions: generation, transmission and distribution. 
Application of this systems are high-precision current 
and voltage measurements in electric power lines and 
electric installations, reading out of the measured values 
via digital interface in IEC 61850-9-2 LE standard 
intended for use by the secondary equipment — 
commercial metering devices, remote measuring 
instruments, electric power quality control, relay 
protection and automatic equipment.

to perform high-accuracy measurements of instantaneous 
current, power and their phase characteristics, issue 
of measured values using the digital interface to be 
used by secondary equipment: commercial accounting 
meters, telemetry devices, electric power quality 
control, relay protection and automation. Optical digital 
measuring transformers developed by our company are 
innovations. They perform full digital measurements with 
a minimal uncertainty achievable today. Their integration 
into structure allows optimizing the architecture of 
measurement, protection and management systems, as 
well as electric power quality control. Optical digital 
measuring transformers are the basis for construction of 
the Digital Substation. 

D. Kishinevskiy 

— The Lysis’s development is iSAS software and 

technical complex, which ensures full life circle of the 
substation management system design: design; tests; set 
up; maintenance and operation.

iSAS is a software and technical complex (STC) of 

electrical substations automation based on the uni

fi

 ed 

technological platform with uni

fi

 cation of all protection, 

management, measurement and control functions within 
the substation based on the software modules, which can 
be easily installed at any hardware platform running on 
Linux OS.

Today, iSAS STC implements the full range of 

35

−

220 kW substations automation functions based 

on a uni

fi

 ed platform in accordance with the Digital 

Substation concept with IEC 61850 full support 
(“process bus”):
• measurements;
• management;
•  relay protection and automation;

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August 25–29, France, Paris

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•   recording emergencies and processes; 
• automated 

regulation;

•  technical and commercial accounting of energy 

resources;

•  electric power quality control.

iSAS STC allows implementing the functions of the 

substation protection with a randomly linked architecture 
and functional structure — from the set of the connection 
complexes to uni

fi

 ed integrated substation complex. 

— What are advantages of your solution? 
O. Rudakov

— Our solution is innovative for the power energy. It 

allows creating a fully digital, reliable complex solution 
for automation, control, commercial accounting and 
relay protection of substations. The digital form of data 
transfer is executed in accordance with the requirements 
of IEC 61850.

Technical advantages of our solution are: 

•  Uniquely high accuracy of measurements and their 

uniformity for all data recipients; 

•  Easy implementation. Up to a hundred cabinets with 

secondary equipment are replaced with iSAS@Work 
server. The measurement part is fully digital. It has 
considerably less weight and dimensions as compared 
to traditional measuring transformers to modernize 
a facility without long operation interruption of the 
electric power distribution equipment;

•  Reliability and Quality. Due to the use of fully digital 

primary measurement equipment, digital processing 
and management methods, methods of the whole 
system self-diagnostics are increased, and application 
of optical cables for information transfer completely 
exclude distortions and interferences in data 
transferred and processed. Digital data transfer and 

process methods allow safe and multi-level backup of 
all systems;

•  Safety. High-voltage part needs no maintenance and 

has a high 

fi

 re and explosion safety. To connect the 

primary high-voltage part to secondary devices, only 

fi

 ber optic cables are used, the galvanic separation unit 

of which guarantee safety of personnel and expensive 
secondary equipment;

•  Compliance with standards. All components work in 

accordance with the requirements of IEC 61850, which 
simpli

fi

 es technical solutions. 

Economic advantages: 

Our solution allows reducing expenses at all life 

circle stages of an electrical substation, from design and 
construction to operation. 

Costs are reduced at the construction stage due to: 

•  Reduction of the amount of the equipment used and 

elimination of a large number of copper conductors;

•  Less labor-intensity of design, assembly and set up of 

the equipment.
During operation, digital smart devices and non-

serviced measuring transformers at a high-voltage part 
allow decreasing signi

fi

 cantly the number of employees at 

the substation and maintenance expenses.

Additional saving is achieved through:

•  Reduction of check costs by the way of increase of an 

inter check interval and simpler transformers check;

•  Reduction of electric power losses due to the higher 

accuracy of measurements and elimination of the need 
in secondary networks regulation load. 
Application of devices with high functions backup level 

and replaceability reduces time required for equipment 
replacement in case of repair or scheduled maintenance 
for an object operation with almost no interruptions. 

A complex solution of Profotech and Lysis allows 

creating the optimal structure 
of the Digital Substation: safe, 
feasible, with a possibility to 
implement remote control 
functions, leading to switching 
to a non-serviced substation. 

I would like to notice 

that full compliance with the 
international standards allows 
applying our solution at both 
Russian and international 
markets. 

If you are interested in the 

nearest future of the power 
energy, please visit Stand 
No. 282 of PROFOTECH 
and Lysis at the Exposition 
of Russian Energy Agency 
at CIGRE exhibition in 
Paris. The description of 
our solution can be found at 
www.op2tech.com.