Category: Communications

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Substation Automation and Integration Services – Guiding the Way to the Digital Substation

Substation Automation Integration Specialists are firms (or business units of large electrical equipment manufacturers) that can assist with or develop and provide a full or partially automated electric power substation on a turnkey basis, leading to “digital substations.” These companies help utilities and C&I firms toward digital substations.  Such firms include dedicated businesses (see examples below) or can be business units of larger companies engaged in the electric power automation business as EMS/SCADA suppliers, RTU/PLC/PAC/gateway manufacturers or protection and control specialists.  As well, T&D engineering firms, from the nation’s TOP 10 in size and reach, to dozens of smaller but capable regional service businesses are involved in helping utilities and C&I firms integrate and automate (or digitize) the nation’s nearly 70,000 utility T&D substations and another several thousand substations that are managed and operated directly by C&I firms, including large renewables installations.

 

Four “tiers” of substation integration providers are included in our assessment:

  • Specialist substation automation integration service revenues in 2022.es
  • SCADA industry participants with substation devices (RTUs, FEPs, Relays, IEDs, platforms) offering substation integration expertise
  • National T&D Engineering Services firms with substation integration expertise
  • Regional T&D Engineering Service firms

Together, these automation and integration services providers accounted for nearly $400 million of substation automation and integrations services-related revenue in 2022 (Newton-Evans estimate).  Click on chart to expand view.

Turnkey costs for substation integration services range from an estimated $45-55,000 for a small distribution substation having few feeders to upwards of $250,000 for a large transmission substation. Some metro-area MV substations with 20 or more feeders can cost upwards of $300,000 to automate and provide device integration services.

The automation equipment/device costs are in the range of $50,000-250,000 for a distribution substation and can range up to $500,000 for smart equipment and integration services in EHV transmission substations.

These totals shown in the chart below for automation and integration services are but a portion of the total expenditures allocated to electric power substations.  New substation construction (greenfield) and up-rating activities (brownfield) account for a few billion dollars, while substation equipment and communications costs also account for several billion additional dollars.

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Estimated Value of Selected OT/IT Systems Shipments and License Fees by U.S. Electric Utilities Now Exceeds $3 billion.

The 2022-2024 edition of the Newton-Evans’ U.S. market overview series covering developments in 12 control and monitoring systems and related IT/OT applications topics is now available for ordering on the company’s website.

The series covers the following topics with individual 2-to-4-page report summaries.  The summaries are based on our studies with utilities and industry discussions held over the past three years.  The market segments covered in this year’s series include energy management systems (EMS), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), geographic information systems (GIS), customer information systems (CIS), outage management systems (OMS), meter data management systems (MDMS), mobile workforce management systems (MWM), advanced distribution management systems and advanced distribution automation (ADMS/ADA), energy market management systems (EMMS), Cyber Security, generation management and distributed control systems (GMS/DCS) and distributed energy resources management systems (DERMS).

The total value of shipments/sales of these 12 systems and application software categories delivered primarily to U.S.-based electric utilities and C&I customers, is now estimated to be more than $3 billion annually.  Some major systems providers are active in a majority of these market segments, with industry segment specialists also key participants.

The C&I segment accounts for about $120-$150 million in procurements of these systems, as developed primarily for electric utilities.1   However, EMMS offerings are primarily oriented to ISO/RTO community, and DERMS solutions are regularly purchased by renewables aggregators, as are specialized SCADA offerings for wind and solar applications.

Some of the segments are oligopolistic, in that only a handful of suppliers are actively serving that particular market.  EMS and EMMS are two such examples.  Other segments are characterized by fragmented market shares held by many suppliers, as evidenced in cyber security, OMS and MDMS market segments.

Individual reports are priced at $195.00 and the entire 12-report series is available for $1,450.00.  Each market overview report includes a segment description, estimated market size, market shares for key participants and a market outlook through 2024.

  1. C&I firms spend additional billions of dollars on vertical industry-developed OT and IT systems such as factory-based SCADA and related automation systems and software.  Distributed control systems with appropriate industry-specific applications and functions is another prime example.  Today’s cyber security investments are also targeted in part to vertical market requirements, as are mobile workforce management systems.  CIS/CRM systems are also widely deployed in several segments within the C&I marketplace.
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69% of Electric Utilities Surveyed Separate OT Networks From IT Business Networks

A recent Newton-Evans survey of 55 North American electric utilities finds that companies are even more hesitant than they were in 2016 to combine networks for operational technology with networks used for IT business processes.

Survey participants were asked, “Does your company manage operational technology (OT) protection, control, and automation Ethernet networks separate from your information technology (IT) business process Ethernet networks?” This question is one of several that were asked previously on a 2016 survey of the protective relay marketplace.

In 2019, 69% percent of North American utilities responded that they manage OT networks separately from IT business process Ethernet networks. In 2016, 55% said they manage the networks separately.

Continue reading 69% of Electric Utilities Surveyed Separate OT Networks From IT Business Networks

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94% of North American Electric Utilities Surveyed Use DNP3 for SCADA

Newton Evans Research Company is currently surveying for the upcoming Worldwide Study of the Protective Relay Marketplace: 2019-2022, a four volume market report. Participants in this market study include utility engineers and managers from investor-owned utilities, municipal and provincial utilities, cooperative utilities within the United States and Canada, together with national power systems throughout the world. This year’s study also includes separate surveys of P&C consultants and relay manufacturers.

Interim findings from the survey of North American electric utilities validate earlier Newton Evans observations that DNP3 is more commonly used for SCADA but less so for Substation Automation, controlling actions issued externally to relays, and communications-assisted protection. Almost all North American utilities surveyed indicated the use of DNP3 for SCADA, while 60% said they use it for substation automation. Only 38% indicated the use of DNP3 for communications-assisted protection. Early tabulations have found some increase in deployments of IEC 61850.
Continue reading 94% of North American Electric Utilities Surveyed Use DNP3 for SCADA

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Growing Use of Specialized Consultants to Assist with Utility Cyber Security Activities Reported in Control Systems Study

Related Substation Automation Study Examines Use of Encryption for Data Transmission To/From Control Center Systems

The Newton-Evans Research Company has released additional cyber security-related findings from two major report series. The research shows that reliance on outside assistance for cyber expertise is gaining ground – especially among international utilities, while the use of encryption for operational data transmission is growing across the world.
Continue reading Growing Use of Specialized Consultants to Assist with Utility Cyber Security Activities Reported in Control Systems Study

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Control Systems, Protection & Control and Substation Automation Report Series from Newton-Evans Research Find Common Ground in Key Areas of Cyber Security and Communications

Research findings from recently completed Newton-Evans studies see an upswing in cyber security investments worldwide, while substantial differences for communications protocols and methods are also evident.

Control Systems Report Series
Similarities between North American and International Utilities:
1. Support activities managed by line-of-business by about one-half of all respondents
2. Fiber optic cable dominates linkages from control centers to key substations
3. Cloud computing interest remains relatively low
Continue reading Control Systems, Protection & Control and Substation Automation Report Series from Newton-Evans Research Find Common Ground in Key Areas of Cyber Security and Communications

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Newton-Evans Study Finds Heavy Use of IP/MPLS and Continued Reliance on Utility-Operated Telecommunications Networks for EMS/SCADA and DMS Systems

The latest findings from the Newton-Evans Research Company study of control systems used in the electric power industry point to heavy reliance on IP/MPLS networks for wide area communications from substations and other field locations to central site control systems.
Continue reading Newton-Evans Study Finds Heavy Use of IP/MPLS and Continued Reliance on Utility-Operated Telecommunications Networks for EMS/SCADA and DMS Systems

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Distribution Automation: Communications for Feeder Automation

The following information was excerpted from a Newton-Evans survey conducted in September 2010. A total of 47 utility officials from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions responded to the survey participation request. For the majority of U.S.-based respondents, there was a good mix of utility representation by size and by type of utility.

Do you plan to migrate (or have you already migrated) the existing feeder automation communications network to a newer wireless technology that allows for functionality like higher bandwidth, IP enabled radios and WiMAX?
Fifty-six percent of respondents had no plans to undertake any migration to newer wireless technology approaches. Sixteen percent of survey respondents had already migrated their existing feeder automation communications network to a newer wireless technology, while 30% were planning to do so.

If you are adding wireless technologies for feeder automation communications, which wireless technology are you planning to migrate to?
Three specific technologies were listed on the survey form (WiMAX, LTE and 4G) along with “other.” Forty-one percent cited WiMAX, 18% mentioned 4G and 6% listed LTE. More than three quarters of the group listed other wireless technologies as shown below.

Other Mentions

  • NetCom 900MHz packet radio
  • IP radio system
  • 700mHz Arcadian
  • CDMA 450 Mhz
  • Owned licensed spectrum
  • not sure; investigating
  • RFP stage
  • Low bandwidth/IP enabled IDEN
  • Higher speed 900 mHz supporting IP
  • Under investigation; not decided yet
  • unlicensed spread spectrum
  • Wimax, 802.11 technology, 900 mHz spread spectrum
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Substation Communications Protocols

Choice of protocol within the substation, between substations, and from the substation to the external host or network.

Newton-Evans studies of the North American market for substation automation suggest that while there has been some (minimal) movement toward at least testing and piloting IEC 61850 in the U.S. and Canada, there has been no significant shift toward widespread adoption of the protocol suite among North American utilities. Nonetheless, previous studies have predicted that by the end of this year 10% of North American electric utilities may be using some level of IEC 61850, probably in conjunction with other protocols.

The current users of DNP 3 and Modbus continue on with these protocols (migrating from serial to LAN-based versions) through the end of this year. Several utilities are reliant upon SEL protocols in more of their substation integration activities, at least among SEL customers.

Are protocols encrypted?
The trend towards encryption of substation communications is growing steadily every few years, as is evident from previous Newton-Evans studies.

SS_comms_encrypted

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Smart Grid and Time Synchronization

Precision timing and time synchronization are topics vital to the future of smart grid operations, especially in electric power substations. In the recently published Newton-Evans, “Assessment and Overview of the World Market for Time Synchronization in Electric Power Substations,” we asked 17 vendors what time references their substation IEDs support. Fourteen out of 17 said that their products support IRIG-B, and 13 indicated NTP (Network Timing Protocol). Precision Timing Protocol (PTP) and Pulse Rates are offered and supported by 9 of these manufacturers while PTP with Power Profile is supported by 7. Just over one-third (35%) reported using direct GPS signals, while nearly one-quarter (23.5%) of the group reported “other” time references were used or offered with their substation equipment.

timerefsupported

The participating manufacturers represent the majority of substation-based intelligent electronic devices (other than protective relays) used in conjunction with substation modernization programs. A number of these respondents also manufacture synchrophasor products including phasor measurement units and phasor data concentrators. Among the other product classes represented are: metering products; communications switches; fault and event recorders; protective relays; automation processing platforms; equipment monitors, and a range of IEC 61850 and DNP 3 supported equipment and devices.

Utility and Consultant Survey Observations
There was strong support for this time synchronization study received from 57 utilities in 24 countries. In addition to the utilities, six leading international engineering consulting firms provided key members of their substation consulting teams to participate in the study. The survey included 14 questions related to substation timing issues and current approaches to synchronize and distribute timing information.

Current Market for Precision Time Clocks
The multi-industry use of precision clocks (masters and slaves) is estimated to be in the range of $200-250 Million as of 2012, with moderate to good growth anticipated by clock manufacturers as well as by utility users. The mid-to-long term market outlook indicates growing interest in adoption of precision timing protocol (PTP) IEEE 1588.

Global sales of time synchronization devices for use in electric power substation (and all other electric power) applications are estimated to be in the range of $35-50 Million for 2012.

This 64 page report, “Assessment and Overview of the World Market for Time Synchronization in Electric Power Substations: A Utility and Industry Survey-Based Report on Precision Timing Requirements” is now available for $975.00 on our reports page. Samples from the report are available.

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Newest Report: Utility Data Communications Market Study in 3 Volumes

Despite economic uncertainty, Outlook for Investment on Utility Telecommunications Upgrades during 2012-2014 remains positive, influenced by a new generation of field automation applications and advanced metering.

Study Finds Growth in Wireless Investment to Outpace Increases in Wireline Data Communications Over Near-Term and Mid-Term

Slow Rulings Related to Rate Restructuring and Real-Time Pricing Initiatives Viewed as Holding Back Some Near-Term Investment in Electric Utility Communications Upgrades.

JANUARY 3, 2011 ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Newton-Evans Research Company, Inc. announced completion of a three-volume report series focusing on data communications in the electric power industry. Survey findings from over 100 electric utilities worldwide indicate:

1) 88% of utility respondents agree that open protocols provide a degree of protection from premature obsolescence of products, but 58% of indicated they have experienced products that are supposedly standardized/open/interoperable which have not functioned as expected or promised by the vendor.

2) Only 11% of all respondents think that the use of synchrophasor technology will be a main driver in Smart Grid communications requirements, and 10% believe that synchrophasors will be the catalyst to adopt IEC standard 61850. (However, 48% said they were “neutral” regarding either statement.)

3) When asked, “What are some of the key data communications issues facing your utility?” responses to this question ranged from “Cost,” “Reliability,” and “Security” (the three most frequently mentioned) to other issues like technology obsolescence, bandwidth, interoperability, lack of standardization, spectrum availability, NERC CIP compliance, latency, terrain-topography , and scalability. See the accompanying illustration.

4) A follow up question to this was, “What do vendors need to do to address these issues?”. The most frequently identifiable sentiment could be paraphrased as, “Be more attentive to Utility requirements, communicate more, work together.” This was followed by comments mentioning “Standardization.” It is clear from this feedback that utilities expect increased cooperation from their communications equipment suppliers and services providers than they may have experienced to date. On the other hand, if vendors need to adapt their solutions and tailor their products and services to fit the situational needs of varying utility profiles, then they have their work cut out for them. Collaborative research and development may provide a feasible compromise solution.

Volume One of the three volume study includes detailed survey findings on grid operational telecommunications usage patterns and plans from over 100 electric utilities in 24 countries.
Volume Two contains profiles for 22 of the leading communications solutions providers and includes more than 30 smart grid communications-centric project summaries from around the world. Volume Three provides an in-depth assessment and outlook for the smart grid telecommunications market and summary of key market influences.

Level 1 – Reliability, Cost, Security
Level 2 – Bandwidth, Spectrum, Staffing
Level 3 – Protocols, Interoperability, Migration Paths
Level 4 – Obsolescence, NERC CIP, Carrier Limitations, Standards

Additional information on the three volume study Global Study of Data Communications Usage Patterns and Plans in the Electric Power Industry: 2011-2015 is available from Newton-Evans Research Company, 10176 Baltimore National Pike, Suite 204, Ellicott City, Maryland 21042. Phone 1-410-465-7316 or visit www.newton-evans.com to access the report brochure. The three-volume report is priced at $3,750.00 and can be ordered and downloaded online. Khrissy Newton can also be reached at knewton@newton-evans.com to provide any additional information regarding the new report series.