Multi-agent systems and IEC 61850

IEC 61850 is an approved international standard for substation communications that is becoming the foundation of a new generation of substation automation systems. At the same time multi-agent systems are being considered for many different utility applications. The paper presents and overview of the new IEC 61850 standard and some of its applications. It attempts to demonstrate the relationship between the concepts in the standard and how they can be used in different multi-agent systems for protection, control, monitoring and recording in substations. The substation configuration language is also analyzed as a tool that identifies the relationships between the different components in a multi-agent based substation automation system