Monday, September 15, 2008
I had the opportunity this week to sit in on several IEEE PES working group meetings while attending the Power System Relaying Committee meeting here in Vancouver, Canada.
I attended sessions on the reliability of networked devices and network infrastructure in power substations, and on architectures for SCADA security. I have a couple of impressions based on what was discussed:
- There is quite a bit of uncertainty in the industry around security issues. For some operators, not seeing a clear direction for security measures in order to meet NERC-CIP has led them to disable some communications channels rather than try to secure them.
- Software robustness issues affecting reliability aren’t included in the existing or proposed IEEE standards (IEEE 1613) for networked devices in substations. It is up to the operator to either develop or purchase a testing solution for in-house use, or to insist on a third-party certification such as Achilles.
The meeting was a good opportunity to hear from stakeholders in different parts of the power distribution industry. It was valuable to hear about the real challenges facing many organizations of different types and sizes across North America.
To conclude, I hope that we’ll be able to participate in these sorts of bodies on an on-going basis (in addition to our work with ISA and NERC) as they will help us to continue to provide meaningful solutions fur industrial organizations well into the future.
- Roderick Locke, Software Engineer, Wurldtech