by Peter Bishop, Transpower NZ Ltd, New Zealand
News from CIGRE Study Committee B5 Protection and Automation
CIGRE Study Committee B5 will organize its colloquium 2025 in Osaka, 30th June – 6th July 2025. Papers have been received, reviewed and authors will be notified in March. The SC B5 annual meeting will occur during the Colloquium. Registration is presently open with early bird closing 30 April. Further details can be found on the Colloquium website at https://www.cigre2025osaka.jp/
CIGRE Study Committee B5 will also participate in the CIGRE Symposium in Trondheim, Norway, 12-15 May 2025. Registration for the event has commenced. Further details can be found on the symposium website at https://cigrenrccsymposium2025.com/ .
Although not planned initially, many synopsis for B5 have also been received for the CIGRE symposium in Montreal in October 2025 (https://cigre.ca/2025/en/). Also, there will likely be B5 sessions in this symposium.
The call for papers for the CIGRE 2026 Paris Session has been issued and can be accessed at Call for papers | Session CIGRE . The deadline for authors to submit their synopsis to their National Committee is 7 July 2025. SC B5 will have two preferential subjects as follows:
- PS1: Knowledge management in the field of protection, automation, control, metering and monitoring
- Knowledge and skills and their preservation
- Education, training and life-long learning of students, young professionals, academics and manufacturer and utility personnel
- Platforms, methodology, tools and support for documentation and educational delivery
- PS2: Protection and control in networks with unconventional sources
- Best practices and regulatory and performance requirements for protection and control in networks dominated by unconventional sources, including wind and solar generation, battery storage, HVDC links and other converter-based devices
- Lessons learned and field experience with protection and control in networks dominated by unconventional sources, including fault-ride through and transient behavior
- New developments in protection and fault response control of unconventional sources
Two of the three B5 new working groups (B5.87 and B5.88) have been approved and member nominations are being sought via national committees. Working group B5.88 is expected to be approved soon.
- B5.87 Digital Transformation of PACS: beyond the Application of IEC 61850
- B5.88 Implementation Guide for fully digital IEC 61850-based Protection, Automation and Control Systems
- B5.89 Protection Redundancy and Backup for Modern Power Systems
Working Group B5.69 (Experience gained and Recommendations for Implementation of Process Bus in Protection, Automation and Control) has completed its work and the Technical Brochure is now published as TB 949. This Technical Brochure reviews Protection, Automation, and Control Systems (PACS) employing IEC 61850-based process bus, using available publications from demonstration and pilot projects, and a survey conducted within the industry between September 2020 and January 2021. The review focuses on projects using Sampled Values and classifies them according to various criteria such as project type, process bus architecture, testing and maintenance, monitoring of high-voltage equipment, and economic evaluation.
The Technical Brochure serves as a comprehensive resource for utilities, manufacturers, and system integrators involved in the evaluation and deployment of digital substations using IEC 61850 process bus, helping them navigate the challenges and opportunities associated with this transformative technology.
The brochure can be downloaded free of charge by CIGRE members from the e-Cigre web site and can be purchased by non-members. Progress to complete other Working Groups remains good.
Biography:
Peter Bishop is aPrincipal Protection and Automation Engineer at Transpower NZ Ltd, the transmission utility in New Zealand.
He is a chartered member of Engineering New Zealand and a Chartered Professional Engineer in New Zealand. Since graduating in 1989, Peter has gained experience in power system protection & automation engineering support for a transmission utility and protection manufacturer. He is now Secretary for CIGRE Study Committee B5, after being the Australia regular member. In 2022 Peter received the CIGRE Technical Council Award for Study committee B5.
