OPC UA and CIM: Semantics for the smart grid

In our approach, we model an ICT-architecture for the utility domain for both transmission and distribution grids according to the IEC standards 61968 and 61970. To achieve this, we use three basic components. The first component is the Common Information Model (CIM) which is standardized by the IEC 61970/61968 standards. The OPC UA (Unified Architecture) is the second basic component. The OPC UA is also part of an IEC standardization process, called IEC the 62541 family. The concept of semantic web services is the last component. Our proposed architecture combines those three components to build a standards-based smart grid architecture and provides an intelligent, service oriented system for the utility domain. In most smart grid use cases, users know what they are searching for (e.g. the services mentioned in the NIST Interoperability study) but they do not know the proper syntax or system providing services. Hence, the user or system should find the matching service using semantic functions for the search. Our concept uses next generation techniques to become a state-of-the-art interface concerning information exchange between Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distribution Management Systems (DMS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.