Doble and SynchroGrid: A Complete Solution for NERC PRC-027-1 Compliance
NERC Protection Relay and Control (PRC) standards establish baseline requirements for protection systems in electrical facilities operating on the nation’s bulk electric system (BES). As the electric power industry changes, NERC issues new mandates to ensure the reliability and security of the power grid. One of these mandates, NERC PRC-027-1, is slated to take effect in 2021 and will directly impact protection engineering teams.
To meet this new standard, power and utility companies will need a solid foundation of data acquisition and analysis tools. NERC requires evidence of a sound relay settings development process and proof of adherence to that process with ongoing system coordination studies. Additionally, the owner-operators of each grid entity must regularly communicate changes to settings and system coordination within their networks to one another.
Protection engineering teams will need to swiftly produce the data and reports needed to satisfy these requirements and avoid any financial penalties for non-compliance. This will entail revisiting system models, pulling together the latest settings data and individually documenting validations of the protection schemes across all NERC-reportable electrical facilities.
Fortunately, compliance to NERC PRC-027-1 doesn’t need to be a manual, time-consuming and error-prone ordeal. Doble has collaborated with SynchroGrid to develop a new API that enables Doble PowerBase™ (PowerBase) to provide SynchroGrid’s SARA (Setting Automation Relay Assistant) software with relay settings data. SARA utilizes the settings from PowerBase in templates that also pull system model data from ASPEN OneLiner™ and PSS®CAPE. The PowerBase API enables SARA users to perform automated computations and analyses of existing models, automatically developing and verifying new relay settings, and easily generating documentation for compliance.
Additionally, Doble and SynchroGrid bring decades of protection engineering expertise through consulting services to help customers develop sustainable, full-spectrum PRC compliance programs.
Three ways we’re helping organizations prepare for NERC PRC-027-1:
1. Ensuring a well-defined process.
Requirement one (R1) of NERC PRC-027-1 calls for organizations to have a well-defined and documented relay settings development and revision process in place, from data definition and retrieval to documentation and review. SARA exchanges data bi-directionally with short circuit modeling software and pulls settings data directly from Doble PowerBase, ensuring a streamlined process that provides accurate data.
2. More time for problem solving and strategic work.
The automated workflow from PowerBase to SARA returns a tremendous amount of time back to protection engineers who would otherwise recalculate faults manually during each system review.
3. Dramatically reduces errors with simplified process.
The PowerBase API to SynchroGrid SARA eliminates copy and paste processes with the short circuit model, reducing errors and increasing the accuracy of the results. PowerBase and SARA remove error-prone steps from the relay setting development and review process, while providing visualizations and reporting that assist engineers with analysis of their results and facilitate compliance readiness.
Learn more about how Doble and SynchroGrid can help you elevate your protection engineering program.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- FURTHER READING: NERC PRC-027-1 Solution Brochure
- FOR MORE INFORMATION: NERC PRC-072-1 Standard
