BS EN 61850-6:2010+A1:2018

What is BS EN 61850-6 - Communication networks and systems for power utility automation about?  

BS EN 61850 is a series on communication networks and systems for power utility automation. Communication networks and systems for power utility automation is a group of nodes interconnected by telecommunication links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. BS EN 61850-6 specifies a file format for describing communication-related IED (Intelligent Electronic Device) configurations and IED parameters, communication system configurations, switchyard (function) structures, and the relations between them. The main purpose of BS EN 61850-6 is to exchange IED capability descriptions and SA system descriptions between IED engineering tools and the system engineering tool(s) of different manufacturers in a compatible way.  

Note: BS EN 61850-6 does not specify individual implementations or products using the language, nor does it constrain the implementation of entities and interfaces within a computer system. 

Note 2: BS EN 61850-6 does not specify the download format of configuration data to an IED, although it could be used for part of the configuration data. 

Who is BS EN 61850-6 - Communication networks and systems for power utility automation for? 

BS EN 61850-6 on communication networks and systems is useful for: 

• Telecommunication sector 
• IT sector 
• Software development department 
• Design engineering department 
• Quality control personnel 

Why should you use BS EN 61850-6 - Communication networks and systems for power utility automation?  

Communication networks are regular patterns of person-to-person relationships through which information flows in an organization.  BS EN 61850-6 specifies a description language for the configuration of power utility IEDs. This language is called System Configuration description Language (SCL). It is used to describe IED configurations and communication systems. BS EN 61850-6 allows the formal description of the relations between the utility automation system and the process (substation, switchyard). At the application level, the switchyard topology itself and the relation of the switchyard structure to the SAS functions (logical nodes) configured on the IEDs can be described. 

SCL allows the description of an IED configuration to be passed to a communication and application system engineering tool, and to pass back the whole system configuration description to the IED configuration tool in a compatible way. Its main purpose is to allow the interoperable exchange of communication system configuration data between an IED configuration tool and a system configuration tool from different manufacturers. Using BS EN 61850-6 you can understand file format for describing communication-related IED (Intelligent Electronic Device) configurations and IED parameters, communication system configurations, switchyard (function) structures, and the relations between them. 

What’s changed since the last update?  

BS EN 61850-6:2010+A1:2018 supersedes BS EN 61850-6:2010. BS EN 61850-6:2010+A1:2018 includes some technical changes with respect to BS EN 61850-6:2010. These include: 

• Functional extensions added based on changes in other Parts, especially Parts 7-2 and 7-3 
• Functional extensions concerning the engineering process, especially for configuration data exchange between system configuration tools added 
• Provision of clarifications and corrections. Issues that require clarification are published in a database available at www.tissue.iec61850.com. Arising incompatibilities are listed in 8.2.3