In substations, it’s more and more troublesome to satisfy at present’s wants with yesterday’s networks.
Sustaining the vital steadiness between electrical energy era and consumption is tougher than ever as renewable vitality sources and electrification proceed to evolve. Among the many many challenges substation community operators are dealing with within the operational panorama is the rising complexity of balancing the big range of recent energy era property (reminiscent of photo voltaic and wind), with an equally complicated consumption mannequin (reminiscent of enhance in electrical automobile transportation). This real-time balancing act drives operators into connecting extra programs requiring larger speeds with decrease latency in a confined operational footprint.
Because the utility grid turns into extra automated and subsequently digitized, the reliance on the supporting digital community infrastructure turns into much more vital to the reliability and effectivity of the grid itself. This enhance in grid digitization additionally will increase the cyber safety menace floor. Regulators and utilities attempt for an ever-increasing safety posture as conventional substation safety approaches come up quick resulting from lack of visibility and centralized safety coverage enforcement.
Lastly, with this growth of linked units within the substation and the fixed drive for operational effectivity, utilities are challenged on the right way to most effectively handle and function these new networks whereas insuring the best reliability.
To resolve these challenges, utilities are working towards full-scale grid modernization — together with substation automation. So it’s not a matter of if however when and how they’ll improve.
Based mostly on greater than a decade of collaboration with the utility {industry}, now we have developed options to digitize and automate substations. On January 20 we introduced the Cisco Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Series Switch, a high-density fiber port swap, particularly designed for the efficiency challenges of a substation LAN structure with a small footprint and ruggedized kind issue. It’s a part of a brand new method to strategy substation automation and administration, and along with the just lately launched Catalyst IR8300 Rugged Series Router, the Catalyst IE9300 offers a validated structure that unifies the substation LAN and WAN – including the efficiency, safety, scale and administration required for the modernization of the grid.
5 necessities for the next-generation substation
Designed for grid modernization and substation automation, the Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Sequence Change addresses 5 vital capabilities:
- Efficiency at scale. Utilities are being requested to attach extra programs at larger capability with extra units which might be streaming extra knowledge. This 28-port GE swap has 26 SFP and 2 Combo ports that can be utilized with both fiber or copper (with applicable connectors). It meets each the excessive fiber density necessities of contemporary substations, and copper the place wanted. The Catalyst IE9300 helps unmatched efficiency at scale – you may stack as much as 8 of those switches, which reduces administration burden, permitting you to consolidate substation LAN performance right into a swap, saving area, and decreasing energy wants.
- Asset visibility and cyber menace detection. Utilizing the built-in capabilities of the IE9300 as a safety sensor, Cisco Cyber Imaginative and prescient permits utilities to realize an correct, real-time view of their operational expertise (OT) property. It additionally screens community exercise and flags anomalous behaviors that might point out a cyberattack.
- Enterprise-grade administration and automation. Substation operators are more and more managing their substations as scaled IT property, using the deep information and capabilities of Cisco’s industry-leading community safety and administration instruments. The Catalyst IE9300 runs Cisco IOS-XE and builds upon this – extending Cisco DNA Middle, in addition to Cisco TrustSec, MACsec, 802.1x and Versatile NetFlow to the substation LAN.
- Assist for {industry} protocols. The Catalyst IE9300 helps {industry} protocols, together with PRP & HSR for redundancy PTP timing and automation protocols reminiscent of IEC61850 (GOOSE,MMS,SV), IEC104, DNP3 and Modbus, which might be important to substation operations.
- Utility internet hosting and edge compute. Connectivity wants — each inside a substation and throughout a utility’s operations — proceed to develop. Substation operators are searching for methods to run functions domestically of their substation LAN environments. The Catalyst IE9300 is designed with this want in thoughts, and with assist for Cisco IOx to energy Cisco Cyber Vision and the utility’s personal functions throughout the substation LAN. Examples embrace digital RTUs, safety functions, and extra.
As utilities advance towards grid modernization, the Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Sequence affords a chic resolution – consolidating OT and IT networks and automating substations.
Utilities can enhance operations, ship larger reliability and better efficiencies at scale – all whereas decreasing threat.
Study extra concerning the Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Sequence Change and the way it and the Catalyst IR8300 Rugged Sequence Router take Substation Automation to the subsequent stage in our webinar on January 27.
Cisco Catalyst IE9300 Series Rugged Switch
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