Application of peer-to-peer communication, for protection and control, at Seward distribution substation

This paper discusses application of high-speed peer-to-peer communication over local area network (LAN) as a tool that helps Cinergy to achieve reduction in installation, commissioning, upgrade, maintenance and operation costs. Exchange of UCA Generic object oriented substation event (GOOSE) messages between relays connected to the LAN is successfully used for the breaker failure, accelerated protection of the distribution bus, transformer protection lockout feature, GOOSE testing, substation interlocking and blocking. Also, this system of exchange of the messages over LAN provides significant advantage for the future expansion of the distribution substation, as well as easy integration into automatic throw over scheme. The three relays types are used for the advanced feeder protection, transformer protection, and control of the high voltage (HV) switches. All relays have pushbuttons on the front (faceplate) for easy control and testing of substation equipment. Relay´s pushbuttons, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and nonvolatile latches also reduced cost for hardware, wiring, design, testing and commissioning. This application meets Cinergy Distribution Standard in a very cost effective way, with great benefits of integration, as there is no need for additional hardware (protocol converters) or additional software. It provides an efficient way of local/remote metering, control, monitoring, recording, communication and protection functions.