1

2006 IEEE PES Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition Latin America, Venezuela

Reliability Study of Regional Power Network

Communication
J. A. Hussein, Student Member, IEEE, and A. R. Majeed

Therefore, its effectiveness for wide area data transmission is

Index Terms—Availability, Optical Ground wire, Reliability
calculation, Reliability indices, System Modeling, SCADA system.
I. INTRODUCTION
limited. Dedicated links are employed by many SCADA
systems to communicate between control center and substation
RTUs. The main advantage of dedicated link is its capability
to provide high data rate.
Fiber optic is the new media for communication; the first
commercial fiber optic installation was for telephone signals
in Chicago, in 1976. The first long distance networks were
operational in the early of eighties. By 1985, most of today's
basic technology was developed and being installed in the
fiber optic networks that now handle virtually all long distance
telecommunications.
The biggest advantage of optical fiber is the fact it can
transport more information longer distances in less time than

C OMMUNICATION system SCADA (Supervisory

Control and Data Acquisition) is one of the most
important systems used in operation and control of power
any other communications medium. In addition, it is
unaffected by the interference of electromagnetic radiation
which makes it possible to transmit information and data with
systems, since by which we can control remote stations, view less noise and less error. Fiber is lighter than copper wires
and analyze all events that happen in the system. Also reliable which makes it popular for aircraft and automotive
communication system reduces the time for restoration after applications. These advantages open up the doors for many
any disturbances, so reliability of such system is very other advantages that make the use of optical fiber the most
important. logical choice in data transmission [3].
In recent years, EMS/SCADA (Energy Management
System) systems have grown to huge sizes as the power
systems to which they are applied grow in size and
complexity, and as their functions become more diversified
and sophisticated.
Power system communication consists of three main parts:
1-Master station, computer system (control center), 2-Media
for communication and 3-RTU (Remote terminal Unit) [1].
In general the computer system consists of two main
computers and a backup computer, each connected to its
corresponding front end computer. Similarly to the computer Fig. 1. Main communication method of Electric Power System
system, the two front end computers work in parallel
redundancy. The front end system is the point of connection The information that needs to transfer in the SCADA system
between RTU and the computer system, through different can be summarized in the figure 2:
communication media. Figure 1 shows commonly used
communication media in the power system [2]:
PLC (Power Line Carrier) is the most commonly used
communication media. This medium does not offer a reliable
solution for wide area data transmission. Communication with
remote sites cannot be maintained during a disturbance.

Dr. Asso R. Majeed is the Headmaster of Department of Electrical

Engineering, Sulaimany University, Iraq (e-mail:
drassomajeed2000@yahoo.com).
Jamal A. Hussein is MSc student, University of Sulaimany, Iraq (e-mail: Fig. 2. Power System Information Needs
barznjy@ieee.org).
1-4244-0288-3/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE
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II. DESCRIPTION OF REGIONAL SCADA SYSTEM

Iraq consists of three dispatch control centers (Central;
Baghdad, South; Basra and North; Kirkuk). North region
power system communication network is very old, since it is
installed in 1976 by (ASEA) Swedish company. There are
many problems in the present system; it lack of spare parts,
unavailability of instrumentation for checking the existing
apparatus and unreliable communication links. Beside that the
existing communication system suffered many serious events
especially after 1991, during the different wars and sanctions
on Iraq; these caused many consequent problems and
deficiencies in the performance of the system.

III. REMOTE TERMINAL UNIT (RTU)

Collecting power system information in each station is
done through RTUs, and then sends it to master station using
different communication media.
In general RTU consists of the following boards (central
processor, memory, A/D converter, communication unit and
bus supervisor). Input/output boards comprise the interface
between the local installation and the data transmission
system. The communication interface board comprises the
interface between the communication unit and the
transmission equipment [4].
All circuit boards are connected to a common bus on which
all internal signaling takes place. The power supply unit feeds
all circuit boards via the common bus.
RTUs can be connected to the master station in series, star,
or a combination of series and star, a loop system or multi
drop system. Figure 4 shows example of transmission systems.
Series connection of two or more RTU stations gives
increased signal distortion. This can be compensated in the
RTU with a regenerator. Regeneration of the pulse train
message is usually made after the second or third link.
Loop system gives increased security against transmission
faults and breakdowns, and for this purpose the RTUs are
fitted with a special change-over switch function.
Fig. 4. RTU configuration (main stations), FE refer to Front End, M to
Modem and P to Power Line Carrier.
IV. RELIABILITY THEORY
Reliability is a design characteristic indicating a system's
ability to perform its mission over time without failure or to
operate without logistics support. In the first case, a failure can
be defined as any incident that prevents the mission from
being accomplished; in the second case, a failure is any
incident requiring unscheduled maintenance [5].
Determining which distribution best describes the pattern
of failures for an item is extremely important, since the choice
of distributions greatly affects the calculated value of
reliability. Two of the continuous distributions commonly
used in reliability are shown in table 1. Note that f(t) is called
the probability density function (pdf).

TABLE I
COMMONLY USED CONTINUOUS DISTRIBUTIONS

Probability Most Applicable

Distribution
Density Function to
(a) (b) Electronic parts
Exponential f (t ) = λ exp(λt ) and
complex systems
Weibull (2- β β −1 t
f (t ) = t exp[ −( ) β ]
parameter) θβ θ Mechanical parts

(c) (d) When the exponential distribution is applicable, the rate at

Fig. 3. Transmission configuration; (a) series-star, (b) Loop, (c) multi drop
and (d) radial
Figure 4 shows main RTU station diagram in the north region.
which failures occur is constant and equal to Ȝ. For other
distributions, the rate at which failures occur varies with time.
For these distributions, we cannot talk about failure rate.
Instead, we use the term Hazard Function, which is a function
that describes how the rate of failures varies over time.
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For calculating system reliability, If the time, t, over which n

a system must operate and the underlying distributions of RS = ∏ Ri (4 )

i =1
failures for its constituent elements are known, then the
system reliability can be calculated by taking the integral and system unreliability is:
(essentially the area under the curve defined by the pdf) of the
pdf from t to infinity, as shown in "(1),".
QS = 1 − RS ∴ Q S = Q A + QB − Q AQ B
In general for n components:
∞
R (t ) = ³ f (t ) dt (1) QS = 1 - ∏ Ri
n
(5)
t i =1

If the underlying failure distribution is exponential, "(1),"

becomes "(2),". B- Parallel configuration:
In parallel system containing two units, the system is said
R (t ) =e − λt (2 ) to be redundant (parallel) if success is achieved when only one
of the units is in service. Consider a two unit redundant
Where: system, if the individual components are operating within their
Ȝ is the failure rate (inverse of MTBF Mean Time Between useful life periods the system reliability RS is given by [7]:
Failure Ȝ = 1/MTBF)
t is the length of time the system must function R S = R A + R B − R A .R B (6 )
e is the base of natural logarithms = 1 − Q A .Q B
R(t) is reliability over time t, see figure5.
= 1 − QS

Fig. 7. Parallel configuration

If there is n components connected in parallel:

n
Q S = ∏ Qi (7 )
i =1

Fig. 5. Exponential curve relating reliability and time

This equation is known as product law of unreliability's in
parallel operation. If the system is fully redundant then the
For exponential distribution, if failure rates, Ȝi, for each system reliability RS is:
element are known, then the reliability of the system can be n
calculated using "(2)," [5]. RS = 1 - ∏ Q i (8 )
i =1

Two common arrangements of components are series and

parallel: Thus, a parallel configuration, or the use of redundancy, is
A- Series configuration: one of the design procedures used to achieve extremely high
system reliability, greater than the individual component
The components in a set are said to be in series from the
reliabilities. Of course, this is a very simple concept, which
reliability point of view if they must all work for the system
becomes more complicated in actual practice [9].
success or only one need to fail for system failure [6]-[7]-[8].
Availability is the important key measure of performance
for each system. It is defined as the following:
Uptime
A= (9 )
Fig. 6. Series configuration Total Time
∴ System reliability is: Where A refers to availability.
And unavailability is:
R S = R A .R B (3 )
Unavailability =1 − A
In general for n components:
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V. SYSTEM MODELING VI. DATA COLLECTION AND MANIPULATIONS

Reliability models allow to evaluate the ability of a given The following two tables are summarized collected data for
system or product to operate correctly (according to five years in the 12 RTU’s stations, the first table includes
specifications). In particular, when the system is made up of a frequency of outages for each year and the second table
number of individual components, it is necessary to consider includes duration of outages in days for each year.
their interactions and how their possible failures will affect the
operation of the whole system [10]. TABLE II
FREQUENCY OF OUTAGES (FAILURE/YEAR) DURING FIVE YEARS
A number of general rules should be borne in mind when
defining the blocks [11]:
No. RTU name 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
a) Each block should represent the maximum number of 1 Kirkuk 400kV 5 4 20 17 11
components in order to simplify the diagram. 2 kirkuk cement 7 9 35 22 15
3 Tzu 14 18 49 38 27
b) The function of each block should be easily
identified. 4 MULG (GPS) 12 15 34 30 19
5 Samara (HPS) 15 18 56 43 24
c) Blocks should be mutually independent in that failure 6 Dibis 21 19 60 48 35
in one should not affect the probability of failure in 7 Erbil no no no 56 42
another.
8 Baja (GPS) 17 15 41 37 29
d) Blocks should not contain any significant redundancy 9 Baja Refinery 21 19 60 49 32
otherwise the addition of failure rates, within the 10 IT1 27 20 72 57 41
block, would not be valid. 11 Mosl 400 kV 23 22 62 51 34
12 Mosl (GPS) 28 25 78 69 52
e) Each replaceable unit should be a whole number of
blocks. TABLE III
DURATION OF OUTAGES (DAY/ YEAR) DURING FIVE YEARS
f) Each block should contain one technology, that is,
electronic or electro-mechanical. No. RTU name 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
g) There should be only one environment within a 1 Kirkuk 400kV 10 9 35 25 15
block. 2 kirkuk cement 12 11 40 32 23
3 Tzu 18 23 47 34 25
1- Computer system RBD: 4 MULG (GPS) 14 18 45 32 20
As described in the section of introduction, the computer 5 Samara (HPS) 19 21 49 38 26
system diagram is as follows: 6 Dibis 25 22 54 50 41
7 Erbil no no no 52 44
8 Baja (GPS) 15 12 39 34 28
9 Baja Refinery 16 13 42 39 32
10 IT1 21 24 59 47 39
11 Mosl 400 kV 23 20 53 41 33
12 Mosl (GPS) 29 25 63 54 37
Note: Freq. means Frequency of failure occurrence, Dur. is the failure
duration in day and (no) means not connected.

From the above tables reliability indices can be calculated

Fig. 8. Computer system diagram.
2- Communication media and RTU RBD:
Communication media and RTU can be drawn as follow:
Fig. 9. Communication media and RTU diagram.
and are evaluated only for four important RTU stations, for the
sake of space consideration in this paper.
Availabilities are calculated using "(9),", and MTTF (Mean
Time To Failure) and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) are
calculated using "(10) and (11)," respectively:
MTTF = TotalTime − DownTime (10)
MTTR = TotalTime − UpTime (11)
Reliability is calculated using "(2),".
The results are declared in the tables below:
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TABLE IV
Dibis
RELIABILITY INDICES DURING FIVE YEARS FOR KIRKUK 400KV RTU 0.95
Kirkuk 400 kV 0.93
Years 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
0.90

Reliability
Availability 0.9726027 0.9753425 0.9041096 0.9315068 0.9589041

Unavailability 0.0273973 0.0246575 0.0958904 0.0684932 0.0410959

0.88

MTTF 355 356 330 340 350 0.85

MTTR 10 9 35 25 15 0.83
Failure rate 0.0028169 0.0028090 0.0030303 0.0029412 0.0028571 0.80
Repair rate 0.1000000 0.1111111 0.0285714 0.0400000 0.0666667 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year
Reliability (R) 0.9722240 0.9750360 0.8993701 0.9291088 0.9580482

Unreliability(Q) 0.0277760 0.0249640 0.1006299 0.0708912 0.0419518 Fig. 11. Annual Reliability of Dibis RTU.
Mousl (GPS)
0.95
TABLE V
RELIABILITY INDICES DURING FIVE YEARS FOR DIBIS RTU 0.93
Dibis 0.90

Reliability
Years 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
0.88
Availability 0.9315068 0.9397260 0.8520548 0.8630137 0.8876712

Unavailability 0.0684932 0.0602740 0.1479452 0.1369863 0.1123288 0.85

MTTF 340 343 311 315 324 0.83

MTTR 25 22 54 50 41 0.80
Failure rate 0.0029412 0.0029155 0.0032154 0.0031746 0.0030864 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year
Repair rate 0.0400000 0.0454545 0.0185185 0.0200000 0.0243902

Reliability (R) 0.9291088 0.9378737 0.8406050 0.8532266 0.8811361

Fig. 12. Annual Reliability of Mousl (GPS) RTU.

Unreliability(Q) 0.0708912 0.0621263 0.1593950 0.1467734 0.1188639

VII. PROPOSED SYSTEM
TABLE VI The proposed system for the part of north region
RELIABILITY INDICES DURING FIVE YEARS FOR MOUSL (GPS) RTU
(Kurdistan) is drawn in figure 13. There are two levels for
Mousl (GPS) control; regional and area, the first one can control entire
Years 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
system and the second control its area. Kurdistan region
Availability 0.9205479 0.9315068 0.8273973 0.8520548 0.8986301 includes three governorates; Sulaimany, Erbil and Duhok. As
Unavailability 0.0794521 0.0684932 0.1726027 0.1479452 0.1013699 mentioned in the introduction section, most of the
MTTF 336 340 302 311 328 communication equipments in this region were damaged.
MTTR 29 25 63 54 37

Failure rate 0.0029762 0.0029412 0.0033113 0.0032154 0.0030488

Repair rate 0.0344828 0.0400000 0.0158730 0.0185185 0.0270270

Reliability (R) 0.9173103 0.9291088 0.8117123 0.8406050 0.8933250

Unreliability(Q) 0.0826897 0.0708912 0.1882877 0.1593950 0.1066750

From these data we can plot the following charts, which

will declare the system status during five years:

Kirkuk 400 kV
1.00
0.98
0.95
Reliability

0.93
0.90
0.88
0.85
0.83
0.80 Fig. 13. Basic system concept
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year Kurdistan Regional Control Center (KRCC), is located in
Fig. 10. Annual Reliability of Kirkuk 400 kV RTU. Sulaimany (Rizgary substation), have the highest authority
and gets first priority for control and operation (switching
 6

procedures) of the 132kV substations in the Kurdistan Especially outages increased in 2003, the reason is the war on
governorates. It will exchange monitor- and control-data via a Iraq in this year. Also we can see that outages decreased for
connection point in Koya and Salahadden Substations for the 2004 and 2005, since rehabilitation of the system is started and
areas of Erbil and Dohuk. the system regains improvement.
There are two Area Control Centers (ACC) situated in Erbil We proposed new system for Kurdistan region with new
(North Erbil substation) and Duhok (East Duhok substation). media for communication (OPGW), which has excellent
SCADA server systems within these control centers are features for communication, used in most developed countries.
acquiring and maintaining all data for all voltage levels. The Tables 4 to 6 show that all reliability indices are poor, and
system connection diagram is as the following: by comparing result obtained in kalar RTU with Mousl (GPS
RTU) we can see that the reliability of the proposed system
SUL.
Rigary
will be more better than the existing, and we can conclude that
saed
sadeq
Tasluja Azmar
29 MW
Diesel
Rizgary
RCC
the existing system is unreliable and it should be replaced.

halabja
chamch
amal
Dokan
H.P.S
IX. REFERENCES
darbandekhan
[1] M. Kunugi, M. Yohda, T. Hasegawa, S. Tamura, and H. Watanabe,
kalar Ranya
H.P.S "performance validation of a functionally distributed energy
ERBIL
North Erbil management architecture," IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol.
ACC
azade koya
29 MW North 7, No. 2, pp. 828-834, May 1992.
Diesel erbil
[2] SUN Yecheng and ZHANG Kai, "The Plan and Construction of the
salahad Communication Network for Electric Power System," Power Systems
den
and Communications Infrastructures for the future, Beijing, September
DUHOK
duhok east 2002.
ACC
duhok
west
aqra sarsank
29 MW
Diesel
duhok
east
[3] Understanding Fiber Optic Communications, Fiber Optic Association
bekhma
(future) 2003 [Online]. Available: http:/www.thefoa.org.
zakho sumail H.P.S
harer [4] ASEA SINDAC Remote Terminal Unit DS 801T Manual, YL 753-301E
Part-A April 1976.
[5] Technical manual, headquarters United States army,
Fig. 14. Proposed connection diagram "reliability/availability of electrical & mechanical systems for command,
control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and
The connection between RCC and the two ACC will be reconnaissance (c4isr) facilities," TM 5-698-1, 14 march 2003.
through Optical Ground Wire (OPGW), which is reliable [6] L.S.Srinath, Reliability engineering, 3rd ed 1991.
[7] Roy Billinton, Power system reliability evaluation, 7th ed 1982.
media for communication; this type of fiber can do the earth [8] Military standard, department of defense USA, reliability modeling and
wire job also, since most of the power lines in this region prediction, MIL-STD-756B 18 November 1981.
don’t have the earth wire due to the events of wars. [9] Military standard handbook, department of defense USA electronic
reliability design handbook, MIL-HDBK-338B, 1 October 1998.
Digital Power Line Carrier (DPLC) can also be used, which [10] ITEM TOOLKIT Version 6, User Manual, software tools for Reliability,
use the same power lines for communication. Availability, Maintainability, Safety, and Quality Assurance, 2003
To make a comparison we will find reliability for the [Online]. Available: http://www.itemuk.ukhost4u.com.
[11] Dr. David Smith, Reliability, Maintainability and Risk, 7th 2005.
farthest RTU station in the proposed system which is Kalar, [12] A. G. Bruce, "Reliability Analysis of Electric utility SCADA Systems,"
and comparing with Mousl (GPS) RTU. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 844-849,
The single line connection diagram is as follow: August 1998.

saed
halabja
sadeq
Rizgary
RCC
Fig. 15. Kalar RTU reliability calculation.
As the front end computer system is full redundancy, then
its reliability is high say 99.999%, and RTU 99.99% [12].
Using "(3),":
R = R ( front end computer ) × R ( RTU ' s ) × R ( Links )
R = 0 .99999 × ( 0 .9999 ) 4 × ( 0 .9999 ) 3
= 0.99929021 7
VIII. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
From the collected data in tables 2 and 3, calculated data in
tables 4 to 6,and the figures 10 to 12, we can see obviously
high outages of RTU’s, and the cause behind this is lack of
spare parts, unavailability of instrumentation for checking the
existing apparatus and unreliable communication links.
X. BIOGRAPHIES
darbandekhan
kalar
H.P.S
Asso R. Majeed, born in 1957, received his B.Sc.
from Sulaimany University in 1978, and MSc &
Ph.D. in 1981 and 1997 respectively in electrical
engineering from Baghdad University, Iraq.
Recently he is head of electrical engineering Dept.
in Sulaimany University/Iraq. His area of interest is
power system reliability and system planning.
Jamal A. Hussein, IEEE student member, born in
1979. Received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering
from Salahadden university-Erbil/Iraq in 2001. Now
he is MSc student in electrical Dept. Sulaimany
University.