Advanced Grid Automation & Virtual Protection Lab

Optech Network Solutions, in collaboration with Intel Corporation, operates the Advanced Grid Automation Technology Lab in Campbell, California. The lab provides a physical and virtual environment where utilities, technology providers, OEMs, and system integrators can evaluate and demonstrate modern computing technologies for Protection, Automation, and Control (PAC) applications in digital substations. As power networks become more connected and intelligent, modernizing PAC systems is essential for improving flexibility, reliability, and operational efficiency. A key area of focus at the lab is Virtual Protection Relay (VPR) technology, which enables protection functions to run as software on modern computing platforms rather than relying solely on dedicated relay hardware. The vendor-neutral lab provides participants with a practical environment to deploy, test, verify, and validate VPR proofs of concept (PoCs) and pilot solutions. This allows utilities and technology providers to assess different approaches under controlled and transparent conditions before moving toward field deployment. The lab includes digital substation equipment and computing platforms capable of running multiple virtualized VPR applications on a single hardware system powered by Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors. This setup helps demonstrate how virtualization and centralized computing can support next-generation substation architectures. The facility also supports key IEC 61850 digital substation functions, including Sampled Value (SV) stream publishing and GOOSE message publish/subscribe communication. Protection and control testing equipment, along with a Substation Network Analyzer, enables engineers to capture and analyze voltage, current, binary signals, and network messages. For accurate and coordinated testing, the laboratory's computing systems, devices, and measurement equipment are synchronized using a Precision Time Protocol (PTP) Grandmaster Clock.