IEC 61970-600-1:2021

Overview

IEC 61970-600-1:2021 defines the Common Grid Model Exchange Standard (CGMES) structure and rules as part of the Energy Management System Application Program Interface (EMS‑API) family. The standard specifies how Common Information Model (CIM) standards work together to enable interoperable exchange, validation and merging of power system models. It focuses on format, constraints, profiles, serialization and governance for exchanging assembled and merged grid models - but does not prescribe business processes or application implementation details.

Key topics and technical requirements

• CGMES structure and profiles: Defines a set of CGMES profiles (equipment, topology, steady‑state hypothesis, state variables, diagram/layout, geographical location, dynamics, etc.) and rules for profile contents and relationships.
• Model Authority Sets (MAS): Rules for identifying model ownership, dependencies and authoritative data sources used when assembling and merging multi‑source grid models.
• File header & body rules: Requirements for file headers, metadata and instance file organization to support dependable model exchange and traceability.
• Serialization: Specifies required serialization formats by referencing IEC 61970‑550‑series standards (for example IEC 61970‑552) and applies constraints to serialized CIM XML.
• Validation and merging: Defines validation rules and the model merging process to create consistent assembled/merged models suitable for operational services.
• Profile constraints and extensions: Adds constraints (including making some optional CIM attributes mandatory) and supports CIM extensions defined in IEC 61970‑301:2020 (and future amendments) or other IEC 61970‑600 series documents.
• Governance and conformity: Versioning, conformity assessment guidance and implementation governance to ensure interoperability in high‑performance environments.

Applications and users

IEC 61970‑600‑1 (CGMES) is intended for:

• Transmission System Operators (TSOs), Distribution System Operators (DSOs) and Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs)
• EMS/SCADA, planning and market systems vendors and integrators
• Tooling for power flow, contingency analysis, short‑circuit studies, capacity calculation, dynamic security assessment and market transparency
• System engineers responsible for model management, exchange workflows, model merging and interoperability testing

By enforcing consistent profiles, serialization and validation, CGMES reduces integration effort and improves data quality across multi‑vendor and cross‑organizational exchanges.

Related standards

• IEC 61970 series (CIM for EMS‑API)
• IEC 61970‑301:2020 (CIM extensions) and its future amendments
• IEC 61970‑550 series (CIM XML serialization, e.g. IEC 61970‑552)
• IEC 61968‑13 and IEC 62325 series (related CIM profiles and market data exchange)

Keywords: IEC 61970‑600‑1, CGMES, Common Grid Model Exchange Standard, CIM, EMS‑API, power system model exchange, model merging, model authority set, serialization, interoperability.