The CAN is a serial communication protocol for distributed real-time control and automation systems. Data generated from field devices in the distributed control of power plant are classified into three categories: real-time event data, real-time control data, non-real-time data. These data share a CAN medium. If the traffic of the CAN protocol is not efficiently controlled, performance requirements of the power plant system could not be satisfied. This paper proposes a bandwidth allocation algorithm that can be applicable to the CAN protocol. The bandwidth allocation algorithm not only satisfies the performance requirements of the real-time systems in the power plant but also fully utilizes the bandwidth of CAN. The bandwidth allocation algorithm introduced in this paper is validated using the integrated discrete-event/continuous-time simulation model which comprises the CAN network and distributed control system of power plant.