SCL — Substation Configuration Language

What is an SCL file?
SCL — Substation Configuration Language
The IEC 61850 standard for substation automation specifies a standardized Substation Configuration Language (SCL) to transfer device descriptions and communication parameters amongst different vendors/ manufacturers.
SCL files define several capability subsets for the IED to instantiate its capabilities.
SCL File Types
IED Capability Description (ICD)
The ICD file is supplied by the manufacturer and defines the complete capability range of an IED. The file contains a single IED section and can optionally also provide the communication and substation sections.
Configured IED Description (CID)
CID files can be considered SCD files stripped down to the sections that are relevant to the IED, connecting IED configuration tool (ICT) and the IED. It contains everything from the SCD file the IED needs in order to be configured, as for example the dataset definition behind a GOOSE message the IED shall receive.
Instantiated IED Description (IID)
The IID file defines the configuration of an IED for a specific project, providing a data exchange format to connect the IED configurator and the system configurator. It contains an IED section, the communication section (including parameters), the IED’s data type templates, and, optionally, a substation section with the binding of functions (LogicalNodes) to the single line diagram.
System Specification Description (SSD)
The SSD file contains the complete specification of the substation automation system, including the single line diagram for the substation and its functionalities (logical nodes). The SSD requires to define the substation part, data type templates and logical node types but does not require the IED section
Substation Configuration Description (SCD)
The SCD file describes the entire substation in detail, inculding the communication, IED and data type template sections. As such, SCD files integrate both ICD and SSD files
System Exchange Description (SED)
The SED file can be considered a subset of an SCD file with additional engineering rights for each IED and ownership of all SCL data. It is used to exchange system configurations between different projects, describing the interfaces of one project to be used by another project.
How SCL files are Used
The engineer imports the ICD file of each device to the System Configuration Tool (SCT) to build the Substation Configuration Description (SCD) for the substation design. The SCD includes the capabilities of all devices required for the designed system.
The designer/tool can also be used to export an Instantiated IED Description (IID) file from the SCD. The IID can be seen as a subset of the ICD in terms of functions and objects, but it also includes configuration information related to the system design (such as reports and GOOSE subscriptions).
An IED Configuration Tool/ Designer (ICT) can use the IID along with device specific information (which could include mapping information) to create a Configured IED Description (CID) file to tell the device how to configure itself. As such, IED engineers usually user a designer/tool to produce CID files using IID imports.

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IEC 61850
The GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented Substation Event) protocol is a communication model defined by the IEC 61850 standard, which uses fast and reliable mechanisms to group any format of data (status, value) into a data set and transmit it through electrical networks within a time period of 4 milliseconds.
It is most commonly used for data exchanges between IEDs (IED – Intelligent Electronic Device) in electrical substations over Ethernet.
IEC 61850 MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) is a client/server based protocol for communications between IEDs (IED – Intelligent Electronic Device) and higher level entities (such as RTUs and SCADAs) over Ethernet that is part of the IEC 61850 standard for communication technology in substations.
It is mapped onto TCP/IP and allows to access the server through its IP address in order to write/read data and exchange files.
The IEC 61850 standard for substation automation specifies a standardized Substation Configuration Language (SCL) to transfer device descriptions and communication parameters amongst different vendors/ manufacturers.
SCL files define several capability subsets for the IED to instantiate its capabilities.
The IED Capability Description (ICD) file is a specific type of SCL file, which are the configuration files defined by the IEC 61850 standard for modern substation automation.
It is usually supplied by manufacturers and defines the full capability range of an IED.
Logical nodes (abstract data objects) are the main elements of the virtual object-oriented IEC 61850 model, which consists of standardized data and data attributes.
They can represent switches in the grid, sensors, communication interfaces, or simply contain descriptions of devices.
IEC 61850 & iGrid
iGrid T&D has a special commitement to interoperability and IEC 61850 in particular. For this reason, iGrid has developed a special tool “iConfICD” to configure IEC 61850 RTUs, SCADAs, I/O Extension units and other devices for IEC 61850 projects.
All iGrid devices and software solutions support the IEC 61850 standard.

iConfICD Tool
iConfICD is a state-of-the-art ICD design tool for the creation of ICD and CID files and the configuration and modelling of IEC 61850 servers.
The tool can be used to set up any device supporting IEC 61850 communication. It allows to create all of the standard’s Logical Devices and Logical Nodes, as well as to select the corresponding Data Objects, while strictly following the guidelines of the IEC 61850 edition 2 standard. With the integrated iEdit tool, expert professionals can also manually access and modify SCL files without restrictions.

iRTU – With I/Os for Direct Data Acquisition

iGW‑S Substation Gateway
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