Collaborative Research: CISE-MSI: RPEP: CPS: A Resilient Cyber-Physical Security Framework for Next-Generation Distributed Energy Resources at Grid Edge

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This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Current electric power grid is undergoing transition due to the rapid penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) including renewable energy systems, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles. However, new cybersecurity threats arise. It is still challenging to model and manage a cross-layered security perimeter in multiparty-involved DER systems. Maloperation or malicious control of DERs will be caused by advanced attackers (e.g., hackers and insiders) as seen the real-world attack cases using the expanded attack surfaces. Besides, quantum era is coming soon and it is anticipated that quantum computing attacks will be possible within 5–10 years. In addition, many inverter-based DERs exposed to the public are vulnerable to physical attacks. To address major threats facing the cyber-physical DERs, this project aims to develop a resilient cyber-physical security framework with a collaborative partnership across multidisciplinary team members from two minority serving institutions, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and University of Illinois Chicago, and Sandia National Laboratories. Moreover, this partnership supports an integrative research and education program of the MSIs for training skilled next-generation workforce in the cyber-physical power and energy systems areas.The technical goal of this project is to launch a major research direction to develop an innovative resilient cyber-physical security framework that addresses imminent challenges in both future cyber-physical security requirements and power engineering designs and resilient operational strategies for DER-rich power systems. Specific integrated research thrusts are as follows: (a) developing a blockchain security governance model for DER systems operating under multiparty and system of systems environments; (b) developing a quantum secure DER network by studying a lightweight post quantum cryptography against quantum computing attacks; (c) realizing DER inverter hardware hardening by investigating a new DER smart inverter security design; and (d) achieving controlled resilience at grid edge using event-triggered resilient self-learning control with retrieval strategy ensuring reduced dependency and susceptibility to communication during security breach.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.