IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP) Establishes Synchrophasor Conformity Assessment Steering Committee

A Pioneer Effort by ICAP and Key Stakeholders to Establish a Testing and Certification Program for Phasor Measurement Units Based on IEEE C37.118.1 Standard

Piscataway, NJ (Marketwired) - The IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP), in collaboration with key stakeholders and subject matter experts from the Power Systems community, today announced the formation of the ICAP Synchrophasor Conformity Assessment Steering Committee (SCASC). A key initiative of the SCASC is the development and delivery of a consensus-based testing and certification program for Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). The certification program is based on IEEE C37.118.1™-2011, IEEE Standard for Synchrophasor Measurements for Power Systems.

The SCASC objectives are to drive adoption, encourage industry collaboration, and provide a path for PMU vendors to validate their products against standards-based criteria in ICAP Authorized Laboratories. Upon successful completion of all tests, a certificate is granted to reflect compliance to the standard. ICAP, serving in the role of Certification Authority, will manage and administer the Program from entry to exit point. SCASC membership is comprised of representatives from utilities, PMU vendors, test equipment vendors, academia and government agencies.

PMUs are used together in systems where many PMU devices, manufactured by different PMU vendors, provide synchronous measurements to one or more PMU applications. "If PMU applications are to become vital to the operation of the power system, PMUs must be conformant to the latest PMU performance standard," commented Allen Goldstein, chair of the ICAP-SCASC. "Certification methodology should be assessed by third-party independent experts and include, PMU calibrator source magnitude and absolute phase traceability, PMU calibrator reference value uncertainty verification, and Verification of compliance of PMU calibration result calculations. ICAP's approach of partnering with multiple labs throughout the world extends the collaboration to testing and certification, the next stage in service interoperability."

"The standard was created with clearly defined requirements to address the need in Power Systems for improved operation and functionality. Conformity assessment is the logical next step to standards development," said Ken Martin, the IEEE C37.118.1 Working Group Chair. "It is crucial to ensure a consistent testing methodology amongst test laboratories that produces comparable results. Establishment of a conformity assessment program is an important step toward realization of this goal."

ICAP will continue to assess and implement where applicable, the best practices as stated in the Interoperability Process Reference Manual (IPRM) developed by the NIST sponsored Smart Grid Interoperability Panel's (SGIP), Smart Grid Testing and Certification Committee (SGTCC). "Utilities globally can reap significant benefits from this important and industry supported initiative. An IEEE Conformity Assessment Program will provide a reliable testing and conformance methodology, thus validating PMUs deployed to the grid while accelerating their adoption," commented Ravi Subramaniam, Technical Director, ICAP. "This program will provide end-users a high level of confidence when selecting PMUs for their deployment."

The ICAP-SCASC participating entities include: Arbiter Systems Inc., Doble Engineering, Electric Power Group LLC, ISO New England, Macrodyne Inc., Mehta Tech Inc., National Institute of Standards and Technology, PJM Interconnection, Quanta Technology, RTDS Technologies Inc., Southern California Edison, Smart Grid Demonstration and Research Investigation Lab of Washington State University and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.

About the IEEE Conformity Assessment Program
The IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP) -- a program of the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (IEEE-ISTO) -- provides programs and industry support that help bridge those standards development activities with the conformity assessment activities that accelerate market acceptance and enablement of new products and technologies. The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has invested in the development of ICAP through a Development Agreement with the ISTO in furtherance of its mission to support its standards. The foundation of ICAP activities is based on industry best practices, internationally accepted quality systems and use of proven test tools. Fostering the market acceptance, adoption and implementation of standardized technologies, ICAP spans the spectrum of today's smart grid, information and communications technologies. To find out more about ICAP, visit http://www.ieee-isto.org/icap-program.