Cyber-Physical Approaches for Attack Detection and Mitigation in Secondary Control Systems of Microgrids

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To facilitate the rapidly increasing penetration of renewable-based distributed generations in power distribution systems, microgrids which can operate independently or in conjunction with their main distribution grids have been implemented. A microgrid has a hierarchical control structure including primary control, secondary control and tertiary control. For the seamless re-connection and disconnection of a microgrid to the main grid, voltage and frequency deviations have to be removed by secondary control which can be designed in either centralized or distributed structure. Both the centralized and distributed secondary control in microgrids involve the exchange of measurements and control signals among controllers through open networks. While supporting the data transmission in microgrids, these open networks also expose microgrids' secondary control systems to cyber attacks. The consequences of malicious attacks on power systems could result in large-scale blackouts and seriously affect human beings and the environment. To secure control systems of smart grids from cyber attacks, technical challenges on developing defense-in-depth security approaches for smart grids are still wide open, such as a deep understanding the interaction of cyber-system events and power system dynamics, new intrusion detection mechanisms and advanced mitigation approaches. The proposed research is to develop new cyber-physical solutions to these cyber security challenges in microgrid secondary control systems. The cyber-physical solutions will leverage a deep understanding of the intertwining relationship of cyber-system actions and physical-system dynamics in microgrids. The proposed cyber-physical approaches for attack detection and mitigation will help to improve the resiliency of electrical power systems (specifically microgirds) to cyber attacks and thus ensure their safe operation. This research could also bring benefits to the cyber security industry of smart grids in Canada by commercializing the proposed attack detection and mitigation algorithms as innovative intrusion detection and mitigation systems. Highly qualified engineers and researchers with multidisciplinary knowledge including control engineering, information technology and power systems will be trained for building stronger smart grids for Canada throughout this program.