RTE : R#SPACE Industrial Use Case of SEAPATH
- Pelletier Maxime
Overview
RTE, the French transmission system operator, has successfully implemented SEAPATH as the virtualization environment for its new generation of Protection, Automation, and Control (PAC) systems, known as R#SPACE. This fully digital, IEC 61850-based multi-vendor PACS leverages SEAPATH to enable high-availability and real-time virtualization in substations. Since the end of 2023, the first substation using SEAPATH has been operating seamlessly, with a roadmap targeting 100 deployments by 2030.
Challenges
To modernize its substation infrastructure, RTE needed a scalable, interoperable, and cost-efficient virtualization platform for PAC systems. The key challenges included:
Ensuring real-time processing and high availability in a virtualized environment.
Achieving vendor independence and an open, cooperative ecosystem.
Reducing hardware dependencies while maintaining strict operational requirements.
What is R#SPACE ?
It’s RTE’s new generation PAC System : fully digital, IEC 61850-based and multi-vendor PACS.
For a description of the R#SPACE System, see § 1 of “Testing approach for RTE’s R#SPACE - CIGRE Science & Engineering Journal Decembre 2024”
As a long-term goal, R#SPACE aims to virtualize all PAC functions. The first step has been the virtualization of the general substation function using SEAPATH.
The first set of substation functions virtualized are :
HMI SCADA, developed by RTE on the basis of an off-the-shelf SCADA supervisor, provides the interface of the PACS for operation and maintenance. It also plays an important role in advanced diagnostics and cyber-security.
Telecontrol Gateway, developed by a supplier to interface the R#SPACE site with remote control centers using.
Substation-level automations : Functions such as alarming, voltage regulation, and overload management, developed by RTE using Straton (a Soft-PLC platform) and running in Docker containers. One automaton is part of the circuit breaker failure protection and has a cycle times of 10ms.
First deployment
The initial deployment of SEAPATH in a 63kV substation has demonstrated successful operation since late 2023 with the previous functions virtualized.
Hardware deployed : ADVANTECH ECU 579 with 22 CPU, 128 Go RAM & SSD 960 Go.
One additional substation was deployed in 2024 and three more are planned in 2025. The long-term goal is to have 100 substations by 2030 fully leveraging SEAPATH for PAC virtualization.
Next Steps
RTE is committed to the continued adoption and enhancement of SEAPATH. RTE is convinced that SEAPATH is the solution of the future, enabling TSOs/DSOs to fully realize the promises of virtualization: flexibility, cost efficiency, and mastery of their PAC System.
Future plans focused industrial deployment acceleration across additional substations : up to 400 kV with more complex busbar topologies, and all corresponding PAC functionalities.
RTE will also continue ongoing R&D initiatives to expand the scope of virtualization to protection functions : project VIP’R.
To go further
Vidéo LFE Summit 2024 : SEAPATH - Current Application and Perspectives - Bastien Desbos & Florent Carli, RTE
Article PAC World 2023 : Towards an Industrial Deployment of Fully Digital PACS at RTE