TVA 500 kV Bradley Substation Now in Service

First multi-vendor relay project in the USA to use IEC 61850 standard

RALEIGH, N.C., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 28, the automation and
protection world took a giant step forward when Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) inaugurated its Bradley Substation. The event heralds the first IEC
61850-compliant substation where all of the available features promised by the
communications standard were implemented and proved to work in a 500 kilovolt
(kV) transmission substation.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO )
Siemens provided SIPROTEC protective relays and SICAM PAS substation
automation hardware and software. The Siemens configuration software, DIGSI,
set the early standards and was the first commercially available IEC 61850
configuration tool.
The security features of the SIPROTEC relays include the ability to ensure
that only authorized IEC 61850 clients can access the relays on this very
secure network.
With many years of experience and many IEC 61850-compliant substations
under its belt worldwide, Siemens took a leadership role in the Bradley
Project team to help make Bradley a success. As a result, TVA now has the
most cost-effective transmission protection and control design in the United
States.
TVA accomplished the goals that were set out for Bradley: Use the IEC
61850 standards to reduce the number of wires, components and connections in a
substation protection control house design; use the interoperability features
between vendors to further reduce wiring connections and retain the benefit of
having redundancy without a single mode failure problem; and reduce the costly
cabling and wiring between the switchyard breakers and the control house.
"Siemens played a significant role in this development that started in
2004 as a concept and implemented to a reality in 2008," said Kevin Sullivan,
vice president and general manager of Siemens Power Transmission &
Distribution, Inc.'s Energy Management and Automation division. "Siemens took
the leadership role in the technical implementation of the IEC 61850 standard
and advised other vendors during implementation," he added.
During the final commissioning, the Siemens SIPROTEC relays identified and
alerted the project team to numerous issues in the now critical communication
infrastructure, which consists of various third party equipment for
communication and multiple vendors' relays in addition to Siemens components.
The watchdog program in the SIPROTEC relays detected missing information
caused by issues in the fiber installations and detected problems in the
settings of communication switches that did not filter circulating telegrams
from the system. It provides essential information of the health of the
wiring connections now done through generic object oriented substation event
(GOOSE) messaging on the communication network.
According to TVA Manager of Protection and Control Jim Kurtz, TVA's
Bradley Substation set many "firsts" including the first 500 kV transmission
implementation, first time a utility acted as the integrator, first time GOOSE
messages were used for secure high speed tripping, and the first time GOOSE
messages between different vendors' relays were used to realize protection
logic and control.
The successful implementation of IEC 61850 is a reality now. Short
lead-time, cost-effective, repeatable and flexible protection and control
systems can now be designed and implemented at the highest voltage levels.
About Siemens
Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh,
NC, creates innovative product, system and service solutions for its customers
-- electric utilities, transmission organizations, Independent System
Operators, and large energy consumers. It is a leading supplier of high and
medium voltage power delivery equipment, energy management systems, network
planning and power system engineering software for regulated and deregulated
generation, transmission, and distribution markets. The company's products
and systems are used to increase power system capacity and improve the
reliability, stability and flexibility of power delivery and network control
systems. It has operations in Wendell, NC; Jackson, MS; Minneapolis, MN; San
Jose, CA; Schenectady, NY; Jackson, TN; Heber Springs, AR; and Atlanta, GA.
For more information visit us at www.usa.siemens.com/energy.
Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical
engineering, and operates in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors.
Over 160 years, Siemens has built a reputation for leading edge innovation and
the quality of its products, systems and solutions. In fiscal year 2007,
Siemens reported worldwide sales of $96.6 billion, and employs 400,000 people
in 190 countries. With its U.S. corporate headquarters in New York City,
Siemens in the USA reported sales of $23.1 billion and employs approximately
72,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. For more information
on Siemens in the United States, visit www.usa.siemens.com.
SOURCE Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc.

Holly Bounds of Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc.,
+1-678-427-6700, holly.bounds@siemens.com