Reimagining Substations: How VPAC Is Unlocking Grid Flexibility
The energy landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. As data centers surge and AI transforms energy demand patterns, utilities are being asked to deliver more power, more reliably, and with greater flexibility than ever before. But while the world races ahead, much of today’s grid infrastructure – particularly substations – remains rooted in hardware-dependent design.
A promising answer lies in Virtualized Protection, Automation, and Control (VPAC). In a recent whitepaper that I co-authored with David MacDonald, The Advantages of VPAC, we explore how this emerging approach is reshaping substation automation to meet the demands of a rapidly changing energy ecosystem.
The Rise of the Software-Defined Substation
Traditionally, substations have relied on purpose-built, vendor-specific devices with limited computing power. These systems work – but they don’t adapt. In today’s evolving power landscape, where no one can predict what the grid will need in five or ten years, flexibility is no longer optional.
This is why the industry is beginning to shift towards software-defined substations. These modernized substations are less like traditional utility infrastructure, and more like data centers – packed with virtualized systems, adaptable architecture, and hardware-agnostic solutions.
Change is Hard
Utilities today often struggle to evolve quickly because they’re locked into proprietary hardware. Think of it like needing to buy a brand-new phone every time you want to install a new app. It’s not scalable, and it’s certainly not sustainable.
Hardware-defined protection and control systems limit innovation. They’re costly to replace, slower to upgrade, and tightly coupled with specific vendors. By contrast, software-based solutions such as VPAC, can be updated faster and more affordably, unlocking a new level of grid responsiveness.
But this shift isn’t just technical – it’s also cultural. Bridging the gap between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) requires more than just new tools; it requires new thinking.
IT-OT Convergence
Building a virtualized substation means integrating IT-grade software into traditionally OT environment – where expectations around reliability, determinism, and compliance are significantly higher.
As utilities move toward this hybrid world, they must ensure that IT systems are robust enough to handle OT demands. That includes adhering to international standards, ensuring cybersecurity, and designing systems for long-term reliability. Serving as a Vice-Chair of the IEEE Power System Relaying and Control Committee, this is something that we’re continuously working on.
Take something as seemingly simple as cooling systems. In traditional substations, active cooling schemes like fans are discouraged because of reliability issues – fans fail, they’re noisy, and require frequent maintenance. But high-computation systems, like those found in IT environments, often require fans to operate.
The solution? Rethinking the compute architecture to balance performance with long-term operability – so that we can design substations that are as resilient as they are intelligent.
The Promise of VPAC
VPAC systems solve a central problem: they allow utilities to virtualize protection and control functions, decoupling them from specific hardware. This means updates can happen through software, rather than requiring full hardware replacements. It also allows for greater scalability, remote management, and rapid deployment across fleets.
But VPAC isn’t a silver bullet: it’s a stepping stone towards a more integrated, software-defined grid. It requires thoughtful planning, cybersecurity integration, and close coordination between IT and OT teams.
That’s why we need a next-generation workforce – one that understands both domains and can design the adaptive, multi-layered systems of tomorrow.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next for Substation Modernization?
As utilities grapple with surging energy demands, variable renewable inputs, and the explosion of AI-powered infrastructure, the need for future-ready substations is evident. The move towards VPAC is about unlocking a system that can connect the dots between OT and IT and evolve as fast as the world around it – one where software-defined intelligence drives hardware-agnostic reliability.