Jason Edwin Stamp

Reliability impacts from cyber attack on electric power systems

The level of risk from cyber attack against control systems used in the electrical grid is uncertain. At various times, the likelihood of attack, the availability of opportunity in the form of cyber vulnerabilities, the impact to the power system, and the consequences have all been debated at length. This research addresses the issue of grid impacts from cyber attack. (The remaining issues are not considered; as such, intent and opportunity are assumed.) One significant part of the analysis is the development of a Cyber-to-Physical (C2P) bridge, which links cyber attack vectors to resulting events in the Electric Power Grid (EPG); for example, a successful cyber penetration of a protective relay in a substation may result in an unplanned breaker trip. The analysis approach calculates an estimate of the grid performance degradation of cyber attacks, as they affect system reliability. The work models cyber attack in terms of unexpected outages to grid equipment; this way, for a given probability of cyber attack, the additional degradation to system reliability that results may be quantitatively determined. After simulation, the difference in reliability (with or without cyber attack) is the average grid impact for a given attack probability. This report includes tests for the algorithm to show its efficacy and versatility for analysis of various cyber impacts. With refinement, the proposed approach could be used as an important tool for control system risk analysis.

The advanced microgrid. Integration and interoperability

This white paper focuses on “advanced microgrids,” but sections do, out of necessity, reference today’s commercially available systems and installations in order to clearly distinguish the differences and advances. Advanced microgrids have been identified as being a necessary part of the modern electrical grid through a two DOE microgrid workshops, 1 ’ 2 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 3 Smart Grid Interoperability Panel and other related sources. With their grid-interconnectivity advantages, advanced microgrids will improve system 4 energy efficiency and reliability and provide enabling technologies for grid-independence to end-user sites. One popular definition that has been evolved and is used in multiple references is that a microgrid is a group of interconnected loads and distributed-energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. A microgrid can connect and disconnect from the grid to enable it to operate in both grid-connected or island-mode. Further, an advanced microgrid can then be loosely defined as a dynamic microgrid. The value of microgrids to protect the nation’s electrical grid from power outages is becoming increasingly important in the face of the increased frequency and intensity of events caused by severe weather. Advanced microgrids will serve to mitigate power 1 “DOE Microgrid Workshop Report,” Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Smart Grid R&D Program, http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/microgrid-workshop-report-august-2011, Aug 2011. 2 “DOE Microgrid Workshop Report,” Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Smart Grid R&D Program, http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/2012-doe-microgrid-workshop-summary-report-september-2012, Sep 2012. 3 SGIP webpage for applicable Smart Grid Interconnections, http://www.sgip.org/#sthash.6Gcyft6W.dpbs. 4 “DOE Microgrid Workshop Report,” Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Smart Grid R&D Program, http://energy.gov/oe/downloads/2012-doe-microgrid-workshop-summary-report-september-2012, Sep 2012. disruption economic impacts. 5 Advanced microgrids will contain all the essential elements of a large-scale grid, such as the ability to (a) balance electrical demand with sources, (b) schedule the dispatch of resources, and (c) preserve grid reliability (both adequacy and security). In addition to these basic features, an advanced microgrid will also be able to interact with, connect to, and disconnect from another grid. An advanced microgrid is aptly named “micro” in the sense that a power rating of 1 MW (plus or minus one order of magnitude) is approximately a million times smaller than the U.S. power grid’s peak load of 1 TW. Some of the complexities required for a large grid such as complicated market operation systems, state estimation systems, complex resource commitment, and dispatch algorithms will be simplified. New advanced microgrids will enable the user the flexibility to securely manage the reliability and resiliency of the system and connected loads. By shifting resources and partitioning the systems in different configurations, a system-survival resiliency essentially is created. System owners can then optimally use system resources to address threats and potential consequences, and even respond to short-time-frame priority changes that may occur. Whether the primary driver for establishing a microgrid is cost saving, surety, or reliability, benefits will accrue to the system owner.

The SPIDERS project - Smart Power Infrastructure Demonstration for Energy Reliability and Security at US military facilities

The SPIDERS project (Smart Power Infrastructure Demonstration for Energy Reliability and Security) is a three-year,

Microgrid modeling to support the design processes

40 million, Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) for the US Department of Defense (DoD) which will demonstrate secure microgrid implementations at three military installations. The SPIDERS microgrids will provide a number of benefits compared to conventional DoD electrical systems, including improved reliability for mission-critical loads, reduced reliance on fuel for diesel power (by using renewable energy sources during outages), increased efficiency of backup generators, reduced operational risk for energy systems through strong cyber security, and flexible electrical energy by building microgrid architectures which can selectively energize loads during extended outages. The three selected sites follow a “crawl, walk, run” progression with respect to microgrid technology, so at Hickam AFB (in Oahu, Hawaii) the SPIDERS microgrid will maintain critical loads along a single feeder, while at Ft. Carson (in Colorado Springs, Colorado) the project will encompass a significant portion of the main cantonment area, and at Camp Smith (also on Oahu, Hawaii and the headquarters of US Pacific Command) the entire facility will be on a SPIDERS microgrid. SPIDERS is funded by both DoD and the US Department of Energy (DOE), leveraging the capabilities and expertise of both agencies.

Cyber security analysis for the power grid using the virtual control systems environment

Summary form only given. Microgrids are a key Smart Grid technology that can be leveraged for improved energy security, efficiency, and reliability. However, their design is not straightforward, particularly in the case of military applications. The US Departments of Defense and Energy are working together to develop a design process for Energy Surety Microgrids (ESM) that will provide a transformative capability for military installations converting to microgrids for backup power and site energy management. The new project, called the Smart Power Infrastructure Demonstration for Energy Reliability and Security (SPIDERS), will field ESMs at three bases. Each site will show an increasing level of application complexity, with design decisions supported by modeling and simulation. The ESM design methodology incorporates output from four models: the Consequence model, Performance/Reliability model, load flow, and dynamic grid model. With respect to energy asset portfolios, the output from the Consequence model is used to move the design toward perceived effective solutions, while the Performance/Reliability model quantifies the expected microgrid improvements and optimizes performance. The load flow model tracks voltage and line flows for acceptable ranges, and the grid dynamic model analyzes start-up and operating transients for voltage and frequency performance. Combined, these models support an integrated and effective design process.

City of Hoboken Energy Surety Analysis: Preliminary Design Summary

The Virtual Control System Environment (VCSE) is a hybrid simulator that is used to analyze the effects of cyber security vulnerabilities for control systems on the power grid. The VCSE allows a heterogeneous environment of real, emulated, and simulated components which allow the modeler freedom to instantiate components at varying levels of detail necessary for the analysis. Stronger modeling effort can be applied to specific systems under test while the remainder of the environment can be filled in with less labor-intensive elements. The VCSE includes software that federates and automates together capabilities across simulation domains (here, the control system components, their networking, and the power grid). This document introduces the VCSE approach to hybrid simulation of the grid and control systems (compared with other approaches). In particular, the VCSE incorporates one key feature: simulation software and hardware are federated through networking interfaces (both real and virtual). This allows for straightforward system-in-the-loop (SITL) analysis, which is of paramount importance for cyber security analysis, as the failure modes of the system under test depend so strongly on its ensemble characteristics (hardware/software/configuration/application). The paper also details the existing modeling approaches in VCSE for each major domain of simulation elements at the real/emulated/simulated levels.

Final report for %22High performance computing for advanced national electric power grid modeling and integration of solar generation resources%22, LDRD Project No. 149016.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated much of the U.S. northeast coastal areas. Among those hardest hit was the small community of Hoboken, New Jersey, located on the banks of the Hudson River across from Manhattan. This report describes a city-wide electrical infrastructure design that uses microgrids and other infrastructure to ensure the city retains functionality should such an event occur in the future. The designs ensure that up to 55 critical buildings will retain power during blackout or flooded conditions and include analysis for microgrid architectures, performance parameters, system control, renewable energy integration, and financial opportunities (while grid connected). The results presented here are not binding and are subject to change based on input from the Hoboken stakeholders, the integrator selected to manage and implement the microgrid, or other subject matter experts during the detailed (final) phase of the design effort.

Common vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure control systems.

Design and operation of the electric power grid (EPG) relies heavily on computational models. High-fidelity, full-order models are used to study transient phenomena on only a small part of the network. Reduced-order dynamic and power flow models are used when analysis involving thousands of nodes are required due to the computational demands when simulating large numbers of nodes. The level of complexity of the future EPG will dramatically increase due to large-scale deployment of variable renewable generation, active load and distributed generation resources, adaptive protection and control systems, and price-responsive demand. High-fidelity modeling of this future grid will require significant advances in coupled, multi-scale tools and their use on high performance computing (HPC) platforms. This LDRD report demonstrates SNLs capability to apply HPC resources to these 3 tasks: (1) High-fidelity, large-scale modeling of power system dynamics; (2) Statistical assessment of grid security via Monte-Carlo simulations of cyber attacks; and (3) Development of models to predict variability of solar resources at locations where little or no ground-based measurements are available.