MRI: Acquisition of a Large-Scale Real-Time Digital Simulator for Cyber-Physical Energy Systems

NSF核磁共振项目旨在通过获得一个模拟器，使美国电网具有弹性和网络安全，使研究人员能够真实地模拟电网在实践中如何工作，包括自然灾害、通信故障和网络攻击等事件。这种被称为实时数字模拟器的设备将通过大规模地共同模拟不同的电力系统响应（瞬态、动态和稳态）以及通过硬件在环（HiL）功能模拟实际设备的级联故障，为电力和能源工程领域带来革命性的变化。这将通过建立一个大规模的网络物理能源系统测试平台来实现，这将使多学科研究、教育和培训成为可能。该项目的智力优势包括开发1)用户友好的多时间段电力系统响应仿真算法；2)检测和减轻电网潜在网络攻击的解决方案；3)在极端事件中电网的弹性通信系统。该项目的更广泛影响包括提高电力供应对极端事件的弹性和稳定性，加强电网的网络安全，并为研究生和本科生和工程师提供培训机会。该试验台将通过在具有网络安全、通信和HiL功能的大型模拟器上测试、验证和演示开发的解决方案，从而引领变革性研究。该试验台将支持的研究活动包括：1)开发主动资源调度和自然灾害前加固解决方案，以保护电网免受野火、风暴和地震的影响；2)开发安全信息交换所需的组件（技术控制和配置选项），并进行盲处理和隐私保护，从而加强电网网络安全；3)研究可再生能源并网解决方案，主要是利用储能系统提供并网服务和综合惯性；4)开发检测和隔离高阻抗故障的方法，这些故障已知会导致野火和电力系统故障；5)利用无人机对电网进行灾后损害评估，实施电网修复；6)为电力系统操作员开发提高态势感知能力的工具；7)提高对微电网孤岛和在严重停电情况下自主运行能力的认识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This NSF MRI project aims to make the U.S. power grid resilient and cyber-secure by acquiring a simulator that will allow researchers to realistically model how power grids work in practice, incorporating events like natural disasters, communication failures, and cyber-attacks. This equipment, called a real-time digital simulator, will bring a transformative change to the field of power and energy engineering through co-simulating different power system responses (transient, dynamic, and steady-state) at large scale and simulating cascading failures with actual devices via hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) capability. This will be achieved by building a large-scale cyber-physical energy systems testbed that will enable multi-disciplinary research, education, and training. The intellectual merits of the project include developing 1) user-friendly algorithms for multi-timeframe simulation of power system responses; 2) solutions that detect and mitigate potential cyber-attacks on power grids; and 3) resilient communication systems for power grids during extreme events. The broader impacts of the project include improving the resilience and stability of the power supply against extreme events, strengthening the cybersecurity of power grids, and providing training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students and engineers.The testbed will lead to transformative research through testing, validating, and demonstrating the developed solutions on large-scale simulators with cybersecurity, communication, and HiL capabilities. Research activities to be enabled by this testbed include 1) developing solutions for proactive resource scheduling and hardening prior to natural disasters to protect power grids from wildfires, storms, and earthquakes; 2) developing components (technical controls and configuration options) needed for secure exchange of information with blind processing and privacy preservation, thereby hardening power grid cybersecurity; 3) researching solutions for the integration of renewable energy sources, mainly by using energy storage systems to provide grid services and synthetic inertia; 4) developing methods to detect and isolate high-impedance faults, which are known to cause wildfires and power system malfunctions; 5) using unmanned aerial vehicles to assess post-disaster damages to power grids and implement the restoration of the grid; 6) developing tools for power system operators that raise situational awareness; and 7) raising understanding of microgrid islanding and autonomous operation capabilities in cases of severe power outages.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.