LONDON, Jan. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IEC 61850 is far more than a communication protocol – it is an engineering philosophy and a common language for all those working with digital substation technology. As the use of IEC 61850 becomes business-as-usual for substation automation, it is essential for the technicians, design specialists, and specification engineers involved to have a solid grounding in the standard.

With this in mind, Fundamentals of IEC 61850, an intensive training programme taking place 17-19 March 2020 in London, has been developed in collaboration with 20+ IEC 61850 specialists from across the European smart utility industry, with the first day led by the convenor of TC 57 WG 10. This comprehensive event will ensure electrical engineering professionals new to IEC 61850 have all the theoretical and practical knowledge they need to embark upon their IEC 61850 journey, providing a thorough and up-to-date understanding of the standard. Over the course of three immersive days, participants will gain valuable insights into the foundational data modelling concepts, the IEC 61850 engineering process, and the latest methods for testing IEC 61850 systems.

With more and more smart grid applications relying on IEC 61850 to facilitate intelligent data exchange, it's becoming increasingly necessary for professionals across the business to undertake this unique learning and development opportunity, including those in protection and control, substation automation, SCADA, renewables integration, telecoms, and cybersecurity.

Whether you're new to substation engineering or have years of experience with the traditional approach, Fundamentals of IEC 61850 will provide the crucial skills and knowledge needed to prepare for the future of substation automation. This year's programme consists of 12 modules, each lasting 90 minutes and providing a combination of speaker-led presentations, group Q&A sessions, and practical exercises. The training programme is strictly limited to 50 participants in order to ensure an interactive learning experience for all attendees.

The programme has been developed to be vendor-neutral, unlike many other programmes, and is not affiliated with any of the major vendors. Each of the industry-leading instructors possesses years of experience working on projects involving multi-vendor systems and is able to offer an honest assessment on different vendor interpretations of the standard, as well as specialised advice for your IEC 61850 environment. Supported by well-recognised experts with an intimate understanding of the intricacies of the standard who, between them, share decades of IEC 61850 implementation experience, they can answer challenging questions and explain complex concepts.

Day One: Tuesday 17 March – Fundamental Concepts of IEC 61850

Trainer: Christoph Brunner, President at it4power & Convenor – IEC TC 57 WG 10

• Business case, history and future of the standard
• Data modelling, logical nodes and semantics
• Communication services – MMS, GOOSE, Sampled Values
• IEC 61850 outside the substation

Day Two: Wednesday 18 March - Engineering and Configuration

Trainer: David MacDonald, System Monitoring Lead Engineer – Iberdrola

• Networking – IP, ethernet, redundancy and time synchronization
• Engineering process and top-down design
• IEC 61850 specification with SCL language
• IED configuration with engineering tools

Day Three: Thursday 19 March – Testing and Cybersecurity

Trainer: Ovidiu Serban, Senior Consultant in Intelligent Networks & Communication – DNV GL

• Quality assurance, factory & on-site acceptance testing
• Testing tools & IEC 61850 test features
• Practical testing of IEC 61850 systems
• Cybersecurity threats and mitigation strategies

Testimonials from previous events

"Excellent conference, excellent programme, excellent networking, and a great opportunity to learn and share about cyber security. The hottest topic in the digital transformation of the energy sector." - Aurelio Blanquet, Director, EDP

"This conference provided an array of technically detailed presentations. Rather than being too generic and high level, the material presented facilitated much learning in a short time frame. There was also an excellent level of informal interaction among participants. A couple of days well spent." - Cormac Long, Technical Consultant, ESB Ireland

"Good opportunity to share updates with colleagues in IT/OT. Discover different approaches for the same problems. Learn new market developments." - Ton Rijnan, Application Manager, TenneT

Event dates and location:

Dates: 17-19 March 2020

Location: Hilton London Olympia, 380 Kensington High Street, London, United Kingdom, W14 8NL

Event website: https://www.smartgrid-forums.com/FIEC20PRNWPR

For more information, interview and media accreditation:

Mandana White, CEO, Smart Grid Forums
Tel: +44-(0)-20-3691-1700

About Smart Grid Forums

Smart Grid Forums is an independent conference producer specialised in the smart grid sector.  We work hand in hand with engineering professionals to create innovative event concepts and high-quality programmes that inform technical decision makers and enable them to deliver exceptional results.

Our approach is entirely market led. We stay exceptionally close to industry developments. Through our regular, rigorous and unbiased process of depth interviews with TSOs, DSOs, power generators, engineering consultancies, and technology innovators, we stay one step ahead of industry developments and provide live event platforms that act as a catalyst for new ideas, new directions, and new approaches to achieving future energy security.

Media Contact:

Mandana White
Smart Grid Forums 
Evergreen House North 
Grafton Place
London, NW1 2DX.
United Kingdom
Tel: +44-(0)-20-3691-1700

SOURCE Smart Grid Forums