We are planning to implement a Scada for our new to be implemented substation system in IEC61850. Also it will integrate other process systems with around 5000 signals. We are looking between ignition, ww, winccoa, … but the problem is iec61850 compliance. Any news about 61850 driver in the following months?
As a stop gap I guess you can use KEPWARE’s third party OPC UA which has a support for IEC61850, till its natively supported by Ignition SCADA.
What exactly does kepware? Our Iec61850 RTU can communicate through DNP3… is kepware a iec61850 to opcua bridge? Will I Get the timestamps of the iec61850 events?..or due to the available dnp3 comm is it better to use this? Im a newbie in the standard. Thanks.
If your 61850 RTU can communicate thru DNP3 then I guess you can integrate it with Ignition’s OPC UA server thru DNP3. However the future is IEC 61850 for all electrical devices as its a self defining protocol supporting plug and play interoperability among devices. So I guess kepware OPC UA server offers (and perhaps future Ignition’s OPC UA server will offer) a node on IEC61850 network for seamless integration of devices with SCADA.
Thanks. First question is if kepwarecis a piece of software or also hardware? And what i dont know is exactly what i “get” through kepware opcua in ignition. The same “iec61850 structured info” as if iec61850 is built in in Scada? I mean, from outside and in operative way couldnt one see the difference? So, when ignition driver appears then are there reasons to change then to it or should i keep kepware?
Kepware is a third party OPC UA server software which supports lots of drivers for various devices, sensors, etc. Ignition SCADA can connect to Kepware in addition to its own OPC UA server. So whenever you need a device that’s not supported by Ignition’s OPC UA server then you can buy (or lease) the kepware OPC UA server and install it on same server as Ignition or a separate machine thru LAN. Ignition SCADA can read/write tags of any OPC UA server on the LAN or local machine.
Regarding IEC 61850 interface I am not sure how it connects , (or whether or not it supports it also is just my assumption!). But I guess OPC UA server will connect to it thru a driver like it connects to a MODBUS device or a dnp3 device is my guess. Please check with kepware site if they have support to IEC61850. (I guess they allow 2 hours of evaluation time)
`When Ignition driver appears you can connect your IEC61850 devices to this OPC UA server and disconnect the kepware server.
KepWare has a 2 hour trial, so does Ignition, so you can download them both for free and connect to a device and see how the data will look.
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If you’re looking at a project in the short term, I’d explore Kepware’s 61850 MMS driver.
As Pramanj said, Kepware is a software OPC UA server that has a slew of drivers. Their 61850 MMS driver has been used by many Ignition installations, and it seems to work well. 61850 is a protocol that requires some expertise, and how your devices are configured determines how Kepware might communicate. As others have mentioned, it’s a good idea to download Kepware and use the 2 hour trial period to ensure communication. 61850 is a complex protocol, and it’s possible the devices are configured for GOOSE or other parts of 61850 that aren’t implemented in Kepware. Giving it a try is the easiest way to see what the tag structure will look like and whether it will work. As mentioned, it works for most customers I’ve spoken to who are using 61850.
As to the other part of your question, Ignition’s 61850 driver is under active development and is likely going into a beta phase shortly. Since the actual time of the final release is unknown, based on beta feedback and refinement from the testers and our development team, I’d suggest the Kepware driver for any projects that are starting today.
And, as others have mentioned, if your device isn’t just a 61850 device and also supports DNP3, you could certainly try out Ignition’s native DNP3 driver for communication.
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You can also connect Ignition to PLCs that support IEC61850 devices downstream and OPC UA connectivity with Ignition upstream. So the SCADA need not connect to IEC61850 devices directly.