Failure Modes in IEC 61850-Enabled Substation Automation Systems

A substation automation system (SAS) is a digital communications network that facilitates control, protection, and monitoring. This new technology, however, has introduced a new set of failures that essentially differ from those of conventional control and protection systems. Because an SAS intrinsically follows the same rules as a communications network, the failure modes are similar. This paper studies the failures of SASs and proposes an all-inclusive categorization of failures that are likely to endanger the correct operation of a power system. Understanding different failure modes can contribute to the development of a model to evaluate the combined SAS and power network in a unique framework.