IN Brief:
- COPA-DATA will demonstrate zenon 16 at the CIGRE Paris Session from 23–28 August.
- The platform combines IEC 61850 engineering, HMI, SCADA, gateway, DMS, and IIoT functions.
- Virtualised protection, automation, RTU, and control architectures form part of the demonstration programme.
COPA-DATA will demonstrate software-defined substation and network automation using its zenon 16 platform at the CIGRE Paris Session from 23 to 28 August 2026.
The demonstration will combine human-machine interface, supervisory control and data acquisition, gateway, distribution-management, and industrial internet-of-things functions within a vendor-independent software environment.
IEC 61850 engineering will form a central part of the display, with zenon 16 incorporating a new configurator intended to support top-down system design and standardised workflows across protection, automation, and control projects.
COPA-DATA will also present virtualised protection, automation, and control concepts, including virtual PAC applications, human-machine interfaces, and remote terminal units. These architectures move selected functions from dedicated proprietary devices onto common computing infrastructure while retaining the interfaces required by the electrical system.
The platform supports deployment across Windows, Linux, virtual machines, and containerised environments. Utilities can therefore retain existing installations while introducing newer computing architectures in stages rather than replacing every hardware and software layer together.
Integrated distribution-management functions are intended to supervise several substations and renewable assets through a common system. MQTT connectivity, device management, dashboards, fleet reporting, and operational-data analysis are included within the wider platform.
Cybersecurity features are being presented against requirements including NIS2, the Cyber Resilience Act, IEC 62443, IEC 62351, and NERC CIP. The relevance of each framework depends on jurisdiction and asset type, although utility automation is increasingly subject to overlapping security, product, and operational obligations.
The demonstrations are designed around networks containing equipment from several suppliers and technology generations. Protection relays, gateways, RTUs, and control systems often remain in service for decades, making complete replacement during each software or server upgrade impractical.
Software and primary plant follow different lifecycles
Transformers, circuit breakers, busbars, and instrument transformers can remain operational for 30 years or more, while operating systems, servers, network devices, and software components have much shorter support periods. Digital-substation design must manage that divergence without forcing unnecessary replacement of serviceable primary equipment.
A vendor-independent supervisory layer can reduce dependence on one hardware family, but interoperability must be demonstrated rather than assumed. IEC 61850 defines communications services and data models, yet engineering conventions, configuration quality, optional functions, and supplier implementation still affect integration.
Virtualisation can consolidate computing hardware, simplify backup, and support faster recovery, while introducing new dependencies on hypervisors, storage, timing, networks, and central management. A failure that once affected one dedicated device could have a wider consequence when several applications share the same infrastructure.
Redundancy, resource isolation, deterministic performance, time synchronisation, and tested fallback arrangements are therefore required. Protection applications have stricter speed and availability requirements than reporting or historical-data functions, and the architecture must preserve those distinctions.
Software-defined automation also changes the competence required from maintenance and project teams. Engineers increasingly need to understand power-system behaviour, protection, communications, operating systems, cybersecurity, configuration control, and virtual infrastructure.
The expansion of digital control is occurring alongside investment in physical equipment. ABB is expanding European medium-voltage manufacturing capacity as networks purchase more primary equipment, while software platforms are being developed to operate a larger and more distributed asset base.
Cybersecurity must continue throughout the complete lifecycle. Secure commissioning can be undermined several years later by unmanaged accounts, unsupported software, expired certificates, incomplete inventories, or remote-access arrangements that have not been reviewed.
Centralised engineering can improve consistency across a fleet, but an incorrect configuration template can also replicate errors widely. Version control, independent checking, staged deployment, testing, and rollback procedures become essential whenever automation is standardised across numerous substations.
Utilities must also determine where responsibility lies when software, servers, protection devices, networks, and operational processes come from different suppliers. Clear ownership of configuration, testing, fault investigation, patching, and system recovery is necessary before shared or virtualised platforms enter service.
COPA-DATA’s CIGRE programme will cover the progression from legacy integration to digital and virtualised architectures. The practical distinction between those approaches lies in their management of failure, timing, security, interoperability, and change rather than whether a function runs on dedicated or shared hardware.
Details of the demonstrations are available through COPA-DATA’s CIGRE information page.
