EN 60870-5-102:1996

Overview

EN 60870-5-102:1996 (also published as IEC 870-5-102 / IEC 60870-5-102) is a companion standard in the EN 60870-5 series that defines how integrated totals (energy counters) are transmitted in electric power systems. Published by CLC, the standard standardizes transmission protocols for representing the amount of electrical energy exchanged between power utilities - or between a utility and independent producers - on high-voltage (HV) and medium-voltage (MV) networks. It supports reliable energy accounting, interchange metering and automated data exchange for billing and settlement.

Key topics and requirements

• Scope of data: Standardizes the types of integrated totals (energy counters) to be exchanged and their intended use for interchange and settlement between utilities and producers.
• Transmission protocols: Specifies protocol mechanisms within the EN 60870-5 family for transporting integrated totals reliably over telecontrol links and SCADA networks.
• Data representation: Defines how totals are represented, encoded and identified so receiving systems can interpret counters consistently.
• Time tagging and integrity: Emphasizes timestamping and integrity checks to ensure accurate attribution of transferred energy for billing and auditing.
• Interoperability: Provides binding protocol rules that enable multi-vendor interoperability between metering equipment, RTUs and control centre systems.
• Operational requirements: Covers typical operational expectations such as periodic reporting, event-driven updates, and error handling to support robust energy accounting.

(Note: This summary avoids inventing low-level protocol specifics; the full standard contains detailed message formats and encoding rules.)

Applications

• Utility billing and settlement: Reliable exchange of integrated energy totals for commercial settlement between adjacent utilities or between utilities and independent power producers (IPPs).
• Interchange metering: Automated transfer of meter totals at HV/MV interconnection points for contractual energy flows.
• SCADA and telemetry integration: Linking metering devices and RTUs with control centres to include energy totals in operational databases.
• Energy accounting and audits: Providing timestamped, integrity-checked totals for regulatory reporting and reconciliation.
• Vendors & integrators: Used by meter manufacturers, SCADA/telecontrol vendors, system integrators and utility engineers to implement interoperable communications.

Related standards

• EN 60870-5 series (transmission protocols / telecontrol)
• IEC 870-5-102 / IEC 60870-5-102 (original IEC reference)
• Other utility telecontrol and metering standards for interoperability and settlement (see full EN/IEC references for cross-references)

Keywords: EN 60870-5-102, IEC 870-5-102, telecontrol, transmission protocols, integrated totals, energy counters, interchange metering, HV MV networks, utility billing, SCADA.