Power-system automation

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Power-system automation" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve it to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Power-system automation is the act of automatically controlling the power system via instrumentation and control devices. Substation automation refers to using data from Intelligent electronic devices (IED), control and automation capabilities within the substation, and control commands from remote users to control power-system devices.

Since full substation automation relies on substation integration, the terms are often used interchangeably. Power-system automation includes processes associated with generation and delivery of power. Monitoring and control of power delivery systems in the substation and on the pole reduce the occurrence of outages and shorten the duration of outages that do occur. The IEDs, communications protocols, and communications methods, work together as a system to perform power-system automation. The term “power system” describes the collection of devices that make up the physical systems that generate, transmit, and distribute power. The term “instrumentation and control (I&C) system” refers to the collection of devices that monitor, control, and protect the power system. Many power-system automation are monitored by SCADA.