IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2016 - 35

tsos and dsos. While the focus of this article is on europe
and north america, in fact ciM standards are in use all
over the world, in asia, australia, new Zealand, africa, and
south america.

Toward End-to-End Data
Interoperability
a necessary foundational element in satisfying these interoperability requirements of the future grid is a common language for data, a common semantic model. this is the utility
ciM, a key standard in the U.s. smart grid interoperability
panel catalog of approved standards for smart grids as well as
in the cen/cenelec M/490 smart grid architecture Models framework standard for europe. the ciM helps organize
and structure shared data through the use of a very complete
model of the entire power system grid and all aspects of power
system management, planning, and operations to provide
common semantics for information exchange.
the development of ciM standards over the last two
decades was based on strong business cases. Multiple industry-driven projects were launched to define use cases and
propose the right solution based on the ciM or necessary
ciM extensions. Figure 3 illustrates the complex process
starting with the task to identify business needs and collect
requirements until the stage in which the applications/tools
are used by utilities, tsos, isos, or other entities.

due to the framework provided by the iec to develop
and approve ciM international standards, the process is relatively slow, which creates a challenge in the need for timely
implementation of ciM solutions. therefore, utilities and
policy makers need to ensure that they support initiatives
aimed at expediting the standardization process by proposing well-tested and vetted ciM-based solutions to standards
development organizations. this will eventually speed up
the adoption of ciM standards, their implementation, and
usage, which will increase efficiency in the business processes, thus maximizing the added value for network operators and the industry in general.
normally the efforts to test conformity and perform other
important steps are coordinated by a body (such as an association, user forum, project, or reliability organization) in
cases where there are a large number of entities that need
to exchange data in compliance with legislation or to solve
a particular business need. an example for such setup is
the efforts that the entso-e is performing in europe, as
described in the next section.

Importance of Interoperability
Testing to Ensure Vendor Compliance
to CIM Standards
there are at least two types of efforts directly linked to
interoperability testing:

Business
Use
Process'
Cases
Needs/
Requirements
New
Ideas

Gap
Analysis

Prepare All Necessary Input
to Initiate or Update a CIM
Standard

Initiate
New Standard or
Submit CIM
Extensions

Draft Standard/
Update CIM/
Discussion

Test Draft CIM
Standard
(Standard Vetting
Interoperability Test)

Approve
and Publish a
CIM Standard

Standardisation Process (Draft a New CIM Standard or Update,
Propose CIM Extensions)
Feedback to Improve
Future Editions of the
Standards
Integration
Process

Vendors
Implementing
the Standard

Conformity to Test
Applications Against
the Standard

Prepare the Applications and Tools for
Integration in the Utility/TSO/ISO, Etc.

Applications
Available
to Users for
integration

Conformity of the Integrated
Applications Against
Procedures Defined
per Business Process

Integrate Compliant with the Standard
Applications in the Utility/TSO/ISO, Etc.

Objectives Achieved:
Integrated Solutions
Used in the
Business Processes

figure 3. The process-from requirements to ready-to-use applications.
january/february 2016

ieee power & energy magazine

35
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2016
