Industrial & Automation

Modern electrical substations are digital substations, where protection relays, merging units and HMI systems talk over Ethernet instead of hardwired control signals. That demands IEC 61850-9-3 Power Profile time synchronisation:

• ±1 µs accuracy across the entire substation
• HSR and PRP redundancy
• Continuous offset monitoring

Protection relays on transformers must stay synchronised at sub-µs level, otherwise differential protection schemes will behave incorrectly.

What we typically deliver to utility and grid operators:

• GMR6000 as IEC 61850-9-3 + IEEE C37.238 dual-profile grandmaster
• OCXO holdover as a minimum (Rubidium for critical-grid scenarios)
• Antenna installation in a utility-grade enclosure (-40°C to +85°C)
• Documentation in line with IEC 61850-9-3 conformance

Process control / factory automation:

• PROFINET and EtherCAT environments: typically IEEE 1588 (without Power Profile)
• NTP100-GNSS for general factory time
• Logging-server sync for ISO 9001 / ISO 27001 audits

Points of attention:

• Substation environment = extreme EMC: shielded antennas, gas-discharge arrestor, properly bonded grounding bar
• Maintenance access: substations are locked down, so devices must operate 5+ years without physical intervention
• Compliance documentation: utility tenders often request the IEC 61850 conformance statement upfront

Practical context: Daylight has guided grid operators through digital substation rollouts. The specific product choice (GMR6000 with Power Profile vs general GMR5000) is a question we walk through with you in advance. We do not perform SCADA, PLC or relay engineering, those are different specialists. The PTP layer underneath your digital substation is our expertise.