ESTELAR Monitoring & Evaluation Strategy_M21 / D5.1

This deliverable describes the ESTELAR monitoring and evaluation strategy developed in Task 5.1 for the efficient deployment of the testing phase in the two ESTELAR Virtualization Testing Laboratories, VTLs: (1) the TUD Digital Substation of the Future, DSoF, laboratory in the Netherlands, and (2) CIRCE’s virtual Substation Automation System, SAS, and communications laboratory in Spain. The strategy consolidates the evaluation logic, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), definitions, target values, data sources, testing evidence, responsibilities, and risk controls needed to validate ESTELAR technologies at TRL 4. The document is based on the Grant Agreement, the KPI Tracker prepared by TUD and CIRCE, and Horizon Europe monitoring practice. It translates the project’stechnical objectives into an operational measurement framework covering Protection, Automation and Control (PAC), virtualized PAC (vPAC), IEC 61850 communications, Wide Area Network/Virtual Private Network (WAN/VPN) tunnelling, cybersecurity, interoperability, scalability, recovery, resource efficiency and compliance with relevant standards. The central principle of the strategy is evidence-based evaluation. Every KPI is linked to a baseline or reference configuration, a target value, measurable metrics, test scenarios, evidence of artefacts and a responsible laboratory. The approach enables the consortium to compare conventional PAC and ESTELAR virtualized solutions, identify deviations early, and provide traceable results for the subsequent validation of deliverables D5.2, D5.3 and D5.4.