PACWorld America went off without a hitch, and we enjoyed the various presentations on IEC 61850, Cyber Security, Distribution Automation, and other modern PAC schemes. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to present our paper on IEC 61850 Basic Application Profiles: “Increasing the Usability & Interoperability of IEC 61850 via Basic Application Profiles: What Does Your Profile Look Like?”. Special thank you to Alex Apostolov, Angela Sadegh and the rest of the PACWorld Team for hosting this great event. No depends about it!

1. Don’t Wait For IEC Application Initiative To Be Completed: The IEC BAP initiative is in its infancy, and we still have quite some time to complete the BAP guidelines that will be defined with the IEC 61850-7-6 Technical Report. Keep in mind this document only provides guidelines. The heavy lifting will be left to the end-users to define their profiles, and even though it will take some effort, it will be worth it for users seeking the long-term benefits that IEC 61850 offers. It is also for users who know “what they want” and “how they want it integrated” for applications that often need to be replicated. Almost every IEC 61850 application includes the use of both mandatory and optional elements, and profiles are meant to be “containers” with mandatory and optional elements. These requirements will take the form of application profiles, and there is nothing stopping users from defining their application profiles. We also encourage these users to contribute to the IEC initiative, and can contact Mr. Chan Wong and Mr. Zeus Xioco for more information.

2. Individual User Profile vs. Consortium Profile: Contrary to popular belief, application profiles do not necessarily need to be developed though a group/consortium of users, which is challenging since it requires consensus among stakeholders who have varying priorities/philosophies/etc. It’s often a struggle for some utilities to reach consensus within their own company, never mind across multiple organizations. However this should not stop individual users from developing their own application profiles, which can then be used to complete a gap analysis between “what I need for my application” (via profile) and “what the vendor supports” (via ICD). Look after your own requirements first, and if/when other stakeholders agree on them, they can adopt your profile and leverage the consortium’s combined purchasing power.

For more information please contact dtessier@tesco-group.com.