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Bringing Substation Automation to the Lab — Building Our IEC 61850 Simulator

· 4 min read
Vinod Kumar R

If you’ve ever worked with substation automation systems, you already know this truth: testing and integration can be a headache.
Every time you need to validate an IEC 61850 setup, you’re chasing hardware IEDs, juggling SCL files, waiting for network configurations, and praying your test environment behaves like the real one.

At Deliverain, we kept running into this same pain — over and over again.
So, we decided to do something about it.

💡 Why We Built It​

We wanted to give engineers, testers, and integrators a way to bring substation automation into the lab — without relying on hardware, without complex setups, and without losing the realism of an actual IEC 61850 network.

Our goal was simple:

“Make it easy to simulate, visualize, and validate substation communication — anytime, anywhere.”

So we started building our own IEC 61850 Simulator, powered by the open-source libIEC61850 stack, and then extended it far beyond basic simulation.

🧩 What the Simulator Does​

Our simulator emulates the behavior of real Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) — the same devices used in modern substations — and lets you interact with them through familiar tools and protocols.

Here’s what’s inside:

🗂️ SCL File Support​

Just load your SCD, ICD, or CID file — the simulator automatically parses and builds the IED data model for you.
No manual setup. No copy-paste errors.

👀 Model Viewer​

Visualize your logical nodes, data objects, and attributes through an intuitive tree view.
It’s like opening up an IED and seeing how it thinks.

🔁 Multi-IED Simulation​

Need to simulate multiple IEDs talking to each other? Done.
Each IED runs as an independent instance, complete with its own configuration and data model.

🧩 Interoperability & Standards Support​

Supports IEC 61850 Edition 1 and Edition 2, ensuring compatibility with IEDs and systems from any manufacturer that follow the standard.

⚙️ MMS & GOOSE Protocol Support​

Handles full IEC 61850 communication — MMS for client-server interactions and GOOSE for fast event-based messaging.
You can test complete data flow exactly like in a live substation.

🔌 OPC DA Server Integration​

All simulated IEC 61850 data points can be exposed as OPC DA tags, so your SCADA, DCS, or historian can consume data in real time.
No bridges, no connectors, no hassle.

🕵️ Network Sniffer​

Monitor IEC 61850 traffic live without keeping Wireshark open. Perfect for debugging and validation.

⏱️ Real-Time Monitoring​

Watch and update data objects in real time. Track live values, event changes, and system activity across all simulated IEDs.

✋ Data Manipulation​

Read, write, and control IED data attributes. Inject test values, simulate alarms, or trigger GOOSE events instantly to validate SCADA or control-system response.

🌐 Network Detection​

Automatically detects active IEC 61850 endpoints on your network — setup becomes faster and cleaner.

🤖 Automated Testing & Scenario Replay​

Bring repeatability and precision to your IEC 61850 testing.
Upload XML or CSV-based test scripts directly into the simulator to automatically execute sequences of operations.

🧠 Under the Hood​

The engine is built on libIEC61850 — the open-source implementation of the IEC 61850 protocol stack.
On top of it, we’ve added:

  • A multi-threaded simulation layer for managing multiple IEDs
  • A dynamic OPC DA mapping engine
  • Configuration and control interfaces for UI and scripting
  • Diagnostics tools for performance and message tracing

All of this runs on standard Windows and Linux environments — ideal for labs, VMs, or even cloud deployments.

🧰 How People Are Using It​

We’ve seen it used in creative ways:

  • 🧪 SCADA and DCS Integration Testing – Validate client systems before hardware arrives.
  • 🧭 Training & Education – Teach IEC 61850 concepts interactively.
  • ⚡ Network Validation – Recreate real-world issues in a controlled setup.
  • 🔄 OPC Bridge Testing – Check interoperability of live data streams.
  • 🤖 Automated Scenario Replay – Execute XML/CSV scripts for repeatable tests.

🧭 What Makes It Different​

Unlike many simulators, ours was built by engineers for engineers.
It’s:

  • Open at the core (libIEC61850)
  • Interoperable by design (OPC DA integration)
  • Intuitive to use (no scripting needed for standard cases)
  • Scalable and affordable (no device limits, no license traps)

You can start testing in minutes and scale as your projects grow.

🔭 What’s Next​

We’re already working on:

  • OPC UA support
  • Report Control Block (RCB) – event-driven reporting
  • Sampled Values (SV) – real-time analog streaming
  • File Services – exchange files per IEC 61850 standard
  • Performance benchmarking for large configurations
  • Remote collaboration for cloud-based testing

❤️ Our Goal​

Substation automation shouldn’t be locked behind expensive tools or hardware dependencies.
We want IEC 61850 to be accessible, understandable, and experiment-friendly — empowering more engineers to build, learn, and innovate confidently.

Deliverain Labs is where we’re sharing that journey.
If you work with substation automation, industrial data, or protocol integration, we’d love to hear from you — try it, test it, or collaborate with us.

Written by Vinod Kumar R, Senior Software Engineer @ Deliverain.