NTA Champions Digital Substation Innovation: Successful IEC 61850 and MQTT PoC with Tenaga Nasional Berhad
In an era where power grids must be smarter, faster, and more resilient, NTA Energy Solutions Corporation—the factory-trained representative of NovaTech Automation — alongside partner Commgate, has successfully completed a landmark Proof of Concept (PoC) with Malaysia’s national utility, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).
The critical technical evaluations and live demonstrations for this milestone activity were successfully conducted from April 16 to 17, 2026.
The PoC put the advanced capabilities of the Orion Grid Automation Platform to the test, focusing on two critical pillars of modern grid evolution: IEC 61850 File Transfer and MQTT (Sparkplug B) protocols.
The Digital Substation Essential: Automated Fault Retrieval
As utilities transition to digital substations, data velocity is everything. Traditional, manual retrieval of disturbance records during a grid event introduces delays that modern operations simply cannot afford.
During the two-day event, the team demonstrated the IEC 61850 File Transfer feature of the Orion platform. This capability serves as a fundamental building block for modern automation by allowing the utility to:
· Eliminate Human Intervention: Automatically retrieve fault and disturbance records directly from Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs).
· Accelerate Analysis: Deliver real-time waveform and fault data instantly to engineering teams.
· Minimize Downtime: Empower operators with the exact data needed for rapid root-cause analysis and swift grid resolution.
Powering the Smart Grid: MQTT and Grid Edge Monitoring
The PoC also focused heavily on the future of the Smart Grid via the MQTT Protocol (utilizing the Sparkplug B specification). As utilities push intelligence further out to the fringes of their networks, managing data from thousands of scattered endpoints requires an incredibly lightweight, report-by-exception architecture.
Here is a conceptual view of the validated architecture:
The Orion platform’s seamless integration with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) equipment was thoroughly validated. By leveraging Sparkplug B, TNB stands to gain massive advantages in Grid Edge Monitoring, ensuring that even the furthest corners of the power distribution network are visible, measurable, and manageable in real-time.
Looking Ahead: A More Visible, Reliable Grid
"The success of this Proof of Concept with TNB underscores our commitment to delivering next-generation automation solutions. By combining the automated intelligence of IEC 61850 with the agile, scalable nature of MQTT, we are giving utilities the ultimate toolkit for total grid visibility." - Mr. Paulo Reyes, Vice-President for Sales and Technical Operations.
By successfully validating these features on the Orion Grid Automation Platform, NTA Energy Solutions and Commgate have charted a clear path forward for utilities aiming to optimize operational efficiency, enhance situational awareness, and build a truly resilient, self-healing smart grid.
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