COPA-DATA zenon Energy Edition SCADA: What It Is

What it is and where it is used

zenon is the software platform from COPA-DATA, an independent software developer, for the engineering and automated operation of energy and infrastructure equipment. Its zenon Energy Edition is aimed at generation, transmission and distribution, and is used as substation SCADA and HMI, for distribution networks, hydropower plants and storage systems. It is also found in industry and in public transport.

Because it is not tied to a relay brand, zenon appears in substations with equipment from several manufacturers and at integrators who want the same tool for different projects. For the general concept, see substation SCADA and HMI system.

In the architecture of a substation, zenon sits at the station level: it receives the information from the relays and bay controllers, shows it to the local operator with single-line diagrams, alarms and events, and allows control of breakers and disconnectors with their interlocks. Communication with the control center can leave from zenon itself or from a separate gateway; that decision is made in the engineering, according to the availability required of each function.

Variants: zenon Energy Edition, Engineering Studio and Service Engine

Main features

• Local or remote substation operation with secure access, according to COPA-DATA.
• Role-based user management and encrypted network communication.
• Energy applications: distribution management, hydropower plants, energy storage and automated substations.
• Parameterized engineering: the project is built in Engineering Studio and deployed to the machines that run it, which allows bay templates to be reused across similar substations.

Communications and integration

COPA-DATA states that zenon supports the main communication standards of the power sector, including IEC 60870-5-101/104, DNP3 (IEEE 1815) and IEC 61850. In a typical substation, zenon connects to the relays and bay controllers as an IEC 61850 MMS client and delivers or receives information from other systems over IEC 60870-5-104 or DNP3. The database is fed from the relays’ SCL files.

Frequent technical questions

• zenon documentation: COPA-DATA publishes the documentation by version; module and screen names change between major versions.
• Licenses: the functions and the number of variables depend on the license; a function that does not appear may be a licensing issue.
• zenon or MicroSCADA, which to choose? They are two SCADA products from different manufacturers, COPA-DATA and Hitachi Energy; each is described on its own page. The choice depends on the protocols, redundancy and support the project needs.
• A new relay does not appear: import its SCL, create the variables and test each signal and each command.
• A SCADA command that does not execute: check select-before-operate, the interlocks and the local or remote mode of the bay.

The three roles of zenon in a substation

COPA-DATA presents zenon Energy Edition in three roles that can coexist in the same substation or be split across machines. The first is local HMI at the station level, with a full picture of the installation and control through generic command processing. The second is a gateway to regional or national control centers, with established telecontrol protocols. The third is control center SCADA, where the assets of several installations are supervised and controlled. What changes between one role and another is not the product but the engineering: what is published, with which protocol and with what availability.

Protocols published by the manufacturer

According to COPA-DATA brochures, the catalog includes, on the equipment side: IEC 61850 MMS client and server, GOOSE publisher and subscriber, Modbus master and slave, IEEE C37.118 and IEC 61850-90-5 for synchrophasors, and IEC 62056-21 metering. Toward the control center: DNP3 master and outstation, IEC 60870-5-101/103/104 master and slave, ICCP/TASE.2 and OPC UA. For networks and diagnostics it mentions SYSLOG and SNMP v1, v2 and v3. The substation brochure states that IEC 61850 Edition 2 support was certified by TÜV Süd and that the system integrates Edition 1 and Edition 2 equipment. How the link between two centers is formed, with TCP connection, session and AP-title, is covered in ICCP: Communication Channel and Association Between Centers.

In the protocol list it pays to read the verbs: a SCADA that has «IEC 60870-5-104» does not say whether it acts as master, as slave or both. For a gateway toward a control center, the slave (or server) role is the one that counts; to read a relay or an RTU, the master. That clarification must be written in the project’s signal list before buying licenses. The components, redundancy, backup center and operator screens are treated in Control Center Design.

Engineering from the SCL files

The manufacturer states that its configuration tools for the client, server and GOOSE drivers start from the standard’s description files (SCL/SCD) and from the utility’s design data. The project can be generated in two directions. Bottom-up, by browsing the devices already configured. Or top-down, from the file of the independent configuration tool (ICT). COPA-DATA credits that workflow with savings of up to 90 % of engineering time; this is a manufacturer marketing figure and depends on the quality of the input files. In practice, an incomplete SCD or one with dataset names different from the real ones carries the errors over to the screens. See SCL files and the SCL viewer.

High availability, GOOSE and oscillography

• Network redundancy with PRP: zenon supports PRP for seamless switchover in Ethernet-based protocols, including MMS client and server and GOOSE. See PRP and HSR.
• GOOSE monitoring and substitution: the manufacturer describes supervision of GOOSE messages and their substitution, useful for testing and for holding values when a device is out of service. See GOOSE.
• Disturbance records: file transfer collects the oscillography from the devices and shows it in an integrated COMTRADE viewer. See COMTRADE files.
• FAT and SAT support: dynamic simulations to replace missing devices, a variable diagnostic list and alarm statistics. See FAT and SAT tests.

Cybersecurity

COPA-DATA declares in its material a secure development process compliant with IEC 62443-4-1, certificate authentication and TLS encryption, and support for IEC 62351 for IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-104, DNP3 and ICCP/TASE.2 on the selected protocols. For users, it integrates Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, OpenLDAP, RADIUS, OpenID Connect and Keycloak. System hardening, segmentation by zones and closing unused services are left to whoever does the engineering.

Points to watch in commissioning and maintenance

• Server redundancy and files. On the COPA-DATA support portal there are user reports of standby servers with frozen variables after synchronizing the historian on a version 8.20, attributed to a very large file. It is not an official fix, but it serves as a warning: test the switchover with the real historian and not with an empty project.
• GOOSE and the network card. Another report on the same portal indicates that GOOSE subscription can stop working on Windows when the network adapter is disconnected and reconnected. Include that maneuver in the operator workstation tests.
• Versions. The manufacturer highlights backward compatibility between engineering and runtime, but modules change between major versions. Document the version in production before upgrading.
• Licensing. The number of variables and drivers depends on the license; check it before extending a substation.

How we help

Our team integrates relays, bay controllers and gateways into substation SCADA such as zenon: IEC 61850 modeling, mappings toward the control center, screens and point-to-point tests, in medium, high and extra-high voltage substations and in industry. Remote engineering is available worldwide; on-site tests are done in Colombia, or elsewhere on request. See SCADA integration and gateways and control, protection and communications configuration. Write to us through the contact page.

Related guides

• Substation SCADA and HMI system
• Siemens SICAM PAS and SICAM SCC SCADA
• PcVue, Ignition and Survalent SCADA
• IEC 61850: overview
• Bay controller
• IEC 61850 digital substation
• Hitachi Energy MicroSCADA X SYS600 and DMS600 SCADA
• Proficy (formerly GE) iFIX and CIMPLICITY SCADA
• Schneider PowerSCADA, Power Monitoring Expert and Citect
• Substation HMI SEL-3355, SEL-3360, SEL-3350 and RTAC HMI
• ICCP: Communication Channel and Association Between Centers
• Control Center Design: Redundancy and Screens

References

• IEC 61850 (series); IEC 60870-5-101 and 104; IEEE 1815 (DNP3).
• COPA-DATA, zenon page for energy and infrastructure (zenon Energy Edition, Engineering Studio and Service Engine).

Frequently asked questions