Modelling and Simulation of Digital Substation Automation for Inter-Substation Line Protection

Power systems have grown to become complex energy networks, they consist mainly of substations connected by transmission lines. These lines are key components of the networks and need to be protected to ensure the integrity and reliability of the system. The control and protection of equipment within a substation has evolved from manual to hardwire automated to Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) enabled to Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) enabled and finally now digital automation. The present standard of substation automation globally accepted is the International Electrotechnical Commission 61850 Standard. While this standard has guidelines and rules for the mechanisms within a substation, it does not fully address the use of digital communication for Transmission line protection. This paper shall explore the possibility of transmission line protection using digital substation automation concepts.