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IEC 61850 & Substation Computing
Impulse have the industry insight and technology know-how to help meet the critical needs of companies in the Power & Energy industry.
Industry Insight. Technology Know-how.
Why IEC 61850-3 Compliance Matters in Substations
The Power & Energy industry has particularly demanding criteria for technology, with its core role in the infrastructure and maintenance of most societies. IEC 61850-3 is a crucial standard that ensures compliance with demanding requirements for EMI resilience and ruggedised systems, delivering enhanced reliability and security for critical power systems. Working with electrical engineers, substation operators, and utility companies, Impulse combines expertise with technology partnerships to offer class-leading computing solutions for the Power & Energy industry.
Designed to operate reliably in extreme temperatures such as -25°C - 55°C.
Offering reliable and sustainable performance for 24/7 operation in harsh environments.
Facilitates faster fault detection, enhanced reliability and reduced wiring.
DA-720 Series
Moxa 19" 2U 6th Gen Intel Core i7-6600U IEC 61850-3/IEEE 1613 / EN 50121 Rack-Mount Substation Computer with Linux Debian 8.
Bay Controller Application Host (Interlocking, Automation Logic, Local Services)
An industrial computer can host bay-level applications that sit alongside IEDs, such as automation logic, interlocking aids, local service processes, and vendor runtime components, without tying that workload to any single protection relay. This gives you a maintainable compute platform for software-based functions, with straightforward patching, backups, and hardware replacement without disturbing protection settings.
Station HMI and Local Engineering Workstation
A rugged PC deployed in the control room can host the local HMI, engineering tools, and access to IED configuration and disturbance records. Keeping this compute on-site avoids relying on remote connectivity for routine commissioning and fault investigation, and it provides a stable platform for vendor toolchains that still expect a Windows or Linux workstation. It also supports controlled user access, logging, and offline operation during communications outages.
Centralised Disturbance and Asset Data Collection (COMTRADE, Logs, Health Metrics)
Substations generate oscillography in COMTRADE format, event records, and device health information across many IEDs. An industrial computer can pull those files and metrics on a schedule, validate and index them locally, and provide a single place for engineers to retrieve evidence after an incident. This reduces manual collection effort and helps prevent missing data when individual IED storage rolls over.
Protocol and Data Normalisation Host (Multi-Vendor Integration Layer)
In multi-vendor substations, you often need a local software layer to map device-specific data into consistent naming, formats, and interfaces for downstream systems. An industrial computer can run the integration services that translate or normalise data models, manage configuration versions, and handle rule-based processing, for example deriving calculated points or applying quality flags. That keeps integration complexity out of the IEDs and makes future changes less disruptive.
What is IEC 61850-3?
IEC 61850-3 outlines the requirements for communication and automation equipment deployed within power plants and substations. It takes into consideration all aspects, including design and environmental conditions, ensuring equipment can withstand extreme conditions and electromagnetic interference (EMI), which is common in the energy sector. Overall, IEC 61850-3 compliance ensures reliable and secure data exchange in critical substation automation and smart grid applications.
Contact Us for a Bespoke Solution
Not found what you're looking for? We're happy to discuss a custom solution, and we also offer a range of data communication products and peripherals perfectly suited to this market. As no two projects are the same, talk to our technical sales team to find out more.
Explore Our IEC 61850 Compliant Computing Devices
Moxa 19" 1U 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8145UE Rack-Mount Substation Computer: 8x GbE LAN, IEC 61850-3, IEEE 1613, IEC 60255 Compliance.
Moxa 19" 2U Intel Core i3-7100U Rack-Mount Substation PC: 6x Ethernet Ports, IEC 61850-3, IEC 60255, IEEE 1613 Compliance.
Moxa 19" 2U 6th Gen Intel Core i7-6600U Rack-Mount Substation/Rail PC with IEC 61850-3, IEC 60255, IEEE 1613 and EN 50121 Certification.
Moxa 19" 3U 7th Gen Intel Core i3-7102E IEC-61850-3 Industrial Computer with PRP/HSR Card Support and 2x Power input.
Explore our recent product highlights, case studies and technical articles.
Our work on power and energy projects usually follows a defined process. We start by understanding the environment and application in detail, then agree a suitable hardware platform, build and validate systems in the UK, and finally manage changes and lifecycle.
Projects typically start with a requirements capture phase. This covers environmental conditions such as temperature range, dust levels, vibration and cleaning regime; electrical considerations such as supply, earthing and panel layout; performance requirements; I/O and expansion needs; relevant standards or approvals; and expectations around lifecycle, volume and support.
Based on this information, suitable hardware platforms are shortlisted and reviewed. CPU class, memory, storage, I/O, expansion options and mounting arrangements are agreed, along with any specific BIOS or firmware requirements. For repeat deployments, a small number of standard builds are usually defined to simplify stocking, rollout and support.
Systems are then assembled and validated in the UK. This includes physical assembly, OS installation and configuration, loading of customer images where required, and burn-in and functional tests defined for the project. The goal is that systems arrive on site ready to be integrated with minimal additional work.
Once deployed, attention shifts to lifecycle support. Agreed configurations are documented and controlled as a bill of materials. Changes announced by manufacturers are monitored, and when they occur, suitable replacement options are identified and discussed. Where appropriate, last-time-buy planning and controlled transitions are used to minimise disruption to machines and production lines.
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LCDs with real-time power switching for HV substation installation
Our customer is a tier one system integrator in the substation automation market with many of the worlds TSOs and DSOs listed as their clients. They required a number of custom designed rack-mount LCDsfor use in their HV substation projects.