Edge Computing Device for Digital Substations

With the increasing digitization of substations and the growing complexity of the global energy landscape, this study proposes an innovative architecture for a Substation Edge Device (SED). The architecture optimizes data distribution for various applications by leveraging containerization and a message broker. By consolidating the functionalities of multiple physical Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) into a unified hardware platform, each function operates as a standalone software component. This approach is built upon a containerized infrastructure that ensures portability, scalability, and isolation. To facilitate efficient data distribution, a message broker is incorporated into the system, alongside a management container responsible for monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and ensuring the proper operation of all applications. The proposed SED architecture is validated through performance results that include data acquisition, timestamp accuracy, broker propagation delay, and management functionality. Additionally, a novelty detection application is demonstrated, generating oscillographies using data from Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS).