Standardized communication

REF615 supports the new IEC 61850 standard for in

ter-device communication in substations. The relay

also supports the industry standard DNP3.0 and Mod

bus® protocols. The implementation of the IEC 61850

substation communication standard in REF615 en

compasses both vertical and horizontal communica

tion, including GOOSE messaging and parameter set

ting according to IEC 61850-8-1. The substation

configuration language enables the use of engi

neering tools for automated configuration, com

missioning, and maintenance of substation devices.

Pre-emptive condition monitoring

For continuous knowledge of the operational avail

ability of the REF615 features, a comprehensive set

of monitoring functions to supervise the relay

health, the trip circuit, and the circuit breaker

health is included. The breaker monitoring can in

clude checking the wear and tear of the circuit

breaker, the spring charging time of the breaker

operating mechanism and the gas pressure of the

breaker chambers. The relay also monitors the

breaker travel time and the number of circuit

breaker operations to provide basic information

for scheduling breaker maintenance.

Bus protection via GOOSE

The IEC 61850 implementation in REF615 also in

cludes fast peer-to-peer communication, over the

substation bus. Use GOOSE communication be

tween REF615 IEDs of the incoming and outgoing

feeders of a substation cooperate to form a stable,

reliable, and high-speed busbar protection system.

The cost-effective GOOSE-based busbar protec

tion is obtained by configuring the IEDs and the

operational availability of the protection is assured

by continuous supervision of the protection IEDs

and their GOOSE messaging over the station bus.

No separate hard-wiring is needed for the horizon

tal communication between the switchgear cubicles.