Description of an edge computing solution to be used in Digital Substations

This paper presents the novel software-based virtualized centralized platform conceived within the EPICS (Edge Protection and Intelligent Control System) project. It has been developed for digital substations and is based on containerized microservices (using Docker) executed on a generic hardware platform. Several protection microservices have been implemented and used to evaluate EPICS performance. These microservices include a data acquisition module based on IEC 61850 Sampled Values standard, two and three-terminal line differential protection, and distance protection. A Real-time Digital Simulator (RTDS) has been used to conduct tests in a Hardware in the Loop (HiL) configuration to check the behavior of the proposed platform and compare such behavior with traditional protection relays. The tests conclude that EPICS is a suitable solution for digital substations, it can work similarly to traditional protection relays.