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

NSF MRI项目旨在通过获得一个模拟器来使美国电网具有弹性和网络安全性，该模拟器将允许研究人员对电网在实践中的工作方式进行逼真的建模，包括自然灾害，通信故障和网络攻击等事件。该设备被称为实时数字仿真器，将通过大规模联合仿真不同的电力系统响应（瞬态，动态和稳态），并通过硬件在环（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变革。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，该平台将支持多学科研究，教育和培训。该项目的智力优势包括：1）开发用户友好的算法，用于电力系统响应的多时间段仿真; 2）检测和缓解电网潜在网络攻击的解决方案; 3）极端事件期间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以及工程师提供培训机会。该测试平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，从而推动变革性研究。该测试平台将支持的研究活动包括：1）开发主动资源调度解决方案，并在自然灾害发生前进行加固，以保护电网免受野火，风暴和地震的影响; 2）开发组件（技术控制和配置选项），以确保信息安全交换，并进行盲处理和隐私保护，从而加强电网网络安全; 3）研究可再生能源整合的解决方案，主要是通过使用储能系统提供电网服务和合成惯性; 4）开发检测和隔离高阻抗故障的方法，已知高阻抗故障会导致野火和电力系统故障; 5）利用无人机评估灾后电网的破坏情况，并实施电网恢复; 6）为电力系统运营商开发提高态势感知的工具;以及7）提高对微电网孤岛和在严重停电情况下的自主运行能力的理解。该奖项反映了NSF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而被认为值得支持。

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.