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At least 199 records · Page 11

Electric Power Grid and Natural Gas Network Operations and Coordination

In this report, we present findings from three studies related to the coordination of natural gas and electricity system operations. We first propose and demonstrate a modeling platform for examining the interdependence of natural gas and electricity networks based on a direct current unit-commitment and economic dispatch model for the power system and a transient hydraulic gas model for the gas system. We use this platform to analyze the value of day-ahead coordination of power and natural gas network operations and to show the importance of considering gas system constraints when analyzing power systems operation with high penetration of gas generators and variable renewable energy sources. In the second study, we utilize our modeling platform to consider the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 809, issued in 2015 to improve day-ahead and intraday coordination of power and gas systems. Finally, in the third study we expand our modeling platform to focus on market-based coordination of electricity and natural gas system operations for a real system, namely a subset of the power and gas networks in the Front Range region of Colorado. We use real system data to evaluate the benefits of coordination operations under different conditions, including different levels of renewable penetration and the use of time-variant, shaped flow nominations. Our results indicate that coordination at various timescales can contribute to a reduction in curtailed gas in high-stress periods (such as those with large ramps in gas offtakes) and a reduction in energy consumption of gas compressor stations. We find that intraday coordination can reduce total power system production costs and natural gas deliverability constraints, yielding cost and reliability benefits. We observe these benefits for the test system as well as in the Colorado case study, where we find that coordination and shaped flows may provide additional value for systems with high penetration of variable renewable energy. Together, these three studies demonstrate a pathway for integrated gas and electricity grid modeling and for studying the benefits of coordinated operations of these increasingly interdependent energy systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Distributed Intrusion Detection System using Semantic-based Rules for SCADA in Smart Grid

Cyber-physical system (CPS) security for the smart grid enables secure communication for the SCADA and wide-area measurement system data. Power utilities world-wide use various SCADA protocols, namely DNP3, Modbus, and IEC 61850, for the data exchanges across substation field devices, remote terminal units (RTUs), and control center applications. Adversaries may exploit compromised SCADA protocols for the reconnaissance, data exfiltration, vulnerability assessment, and injection of stealthy cyberattacks to affect power system operation. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm to generate robust rule sets. We integrate the rule sets into an intrusion detection system (IDS), which continuously monitors the DNP3 data traffic at a substation network and detects intrusions and anomalies in real-time. To enable CPS-aware wide-area situational awareness, we integrated the methodology into an open-source distributed-IDS (D-IDS) framework. The D-IDS facilitates central monitoring of the detected anomalies from the geographically distributed substations and to the control center. The proposed algorithm provides an optimal solution to detect network intrusions and abnormal behavior. Different types of IDS rules based on packet payload, packet flow, and time threshold are generated. Further, IDS testing and evaluation is performed with a set of rules in different sequences. The detection time is measured for different IDS rules, and the results are plotted. All the experiments are conducted at Power Cyber Lab, Iowa State University, for multiple power grid models. After successful testing and evaluation, knowledge and implementation are transferred to field deployment.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Analyzing inference workloads for spatiotemporal modeling

Ensuring power grid resiliency, forecasting climate conditions, and optimization of transportation infrastructure are some of the many application areas where data is collected in both space and time. Spatiotemporal modeling is about modeling those patterns for forecasting future trends and carrying out critical decision-making by leveraging machine learning/deep learning. Once trained offline, field deployment of trained models for near real-time inference could be challenging because performance can vary significantly depending on the environment, available compute resources and tolerance to ambiguity in results. Users deploying spatiotemporal models for solving complex problems can benefit from analytical studies considering a plethora of system adaptations to understand the associated performance-quality trade-offs. To facilitate the co-design of next-generation hardware architectures for field deployment of trained models, it is critical to characterize the workloads of these deep learning (DL) applications during inference and assess their computational patterns at different levels of the execution stack. In this paper, we develop several variants of deep learning applications that use spatiotemporal data from dynamical systems. We study the associated computational patterns for inference workloads at different levels, considering relevant models (Long short-term Memory, Convolutional Neural Network and Spatio-Temporal Graph Convolution Network), DL frameworks (Tensorflow and PyTorch), precision (FP16, FP32, AMP, INT16 and INT8), inference runtime (ONNX and AI Template), post-training quantization (TensorRT) and platforms (Nvidia DGX A100 and Sambanova SN10 RDU). Overall, our findings indicate that although there is potential in mixed-precision models and post-training quantization for spatiotemporal modeling, extracting efficiency from contemporary GPU systems might be challenging. Instead, co-designing custom accelerators by leveraging optimized High Level Synthesis frameworks (such as SODA High-Level Synthesizer for customized FPGA/ASIC targets) can make workload-specific adjustments to enhance the efficiency.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Unsupervised discovery of extreme weather events using universal representations of emergent organization

Spontaneous self-organization is ubiquitous in systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium. While organized structures that emerge dominate transport properties, universal representations that identify and describe these key objects remain elusive. Here, we introduce a theoretically grounded framework for describing emergent organization that, via data-driven algorithms, is constructive in practice. Its building blocks are spacetime lightcones that embody how information propagates across a system through local interactions. We show that predictive equivalence classes of lightcones—local causal states—capture organized behaviors in complex spatiotemporal systems. Employing an unsupervised physics-informed machine learning algorithm and a high-performance computing implementation, we demonstrate automatically discovering organized structures in two real-world domain science problems. We show that local causal states identify vortices and track their power-law decay behavior in two-dimensional fluid turbulence. We then show how to detect and track familiar extreme weather events—hurricanes and atmospheric rivers—and discover other novel structures associated with precipitation extremes in high-resolution climate data at the grid-cell level.

Rupe, Adam [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ↗

Differentially Private K -Means Clustering Applied to Meter Data Analysis and Synthesis

The proliferation of smart meters has resulted in a large amount of data being generated. It is increasingly apparent that methods are required for allowing a variety of stakeholders to leverage the data in a manner that preserves the privacy of the consumers. The sector is scrambling to define policies, such as the so called ‘15/15 rule’, to respond to the need. However, the current policies fail to adequately guarantee privacy. Here, in this paper, we address the problem of allowing third parties to apply K-means clustering, obtaining customer labels and centroids for a set of load time series by applying the framework of differential privacy. We leverage the method to design an algorithm that generates differentially private synthetic load data consistent with the labeled data. We test our algorithm’s utility by answering summary statistics such as average daily load profiles for a 2-dimensional synthetic dataset and a real-world power load dataset.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Synchrophasor Data Anomaly Detection on Grid Edge by 5G Communication and Adjacent Compute

The fifth-generation mobile communication (5G) technology offers the opportunities to enhance the grid real-time monitoring. The 5G-enabled phasor measurement units (PMUs) features flexible positioning and cost-effective long-term maintenance, without constraints of fixing wire. This paper is the first to demonstrate the applicability of 5G in PMU communication, and the experiment was carried out at Verizon non-standalone testbed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Advanced Wireless Communication lab. The performance of 5G-enabled PMU communication setup is reviewed and discussed in this paper, and the paper presents a real-time dynamic linear model (DML) based synchrophasor data anomaly detection application. Last but not least, the practicability of implementing 5G for wide-area protection strategies is explored and discussed by analyzing the experimental results.

5G, Synchrophasor data, machine learning, anomaly ↗

Advanced Semi-Supervised Learning with Uncertainty Estimation for Phase Identification in Distribution Systems

The integration of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) into power distribution networks generates valuable data for tasks such as phase identification; however, the limited and unreliable availability of labeled data in the form of customer phase connectivity presents challenges. To address this issue, we propose a semi-supervised learning (SSL) framework that effectively leverages labeled and unlabeled data. Our approach incorporates self-training, label spreading, and Bayesian neural networks (BNNs) to enhance phase identification with AMI data. Our method uses an ensemble of multilayer perceptron classifiers in a self-training setup, iteratively adding high-confidence pseudo-labels to improve robustness. We also apply label spread to propagate labels based on data similarity, which enhances generalization across diverse distributions. In addition, we employ a BNNs with uncertainty estimation, boosting confidence in predictions and reducing phase identification errors. In our case study, we achieved approximately 98% +/- 0.08 accuracy with uncertainty using minimal and unreliable labeled data from a real U.S. utility, Duquesne Light Company. Our SSL approach, combined with uncertainty estimation, provides an efficient solution for phase identification in AMI data, ultimately improving the reliability of smart grid applications.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Advanced Semi-Supervised Learning With Uncertainty Estimation for Phase Identification in Distribution Systems

The integration of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) into power distribution networks generates valuable data for tasks such as phase identification; however, the limited and unreliable availability of labeled data in the form of customer phase connectivity presents challenges. To address this issue, we propose a semi-supervised learning (SSL) framework that effectively leverages labeled and unlabeled data. Our approach incorporates self-training, label spreading, and Bayesian neural networks (BNNs) to enhance phase identification with AMI data. Our method uses an ensemble of multilayer perceptron classifiers in a self-training setup, iteratively adding high-confidence pseudo-labels to improve robustness. We also apply label spread to propagate labels based on data similarity, which enhances generalization across diverse distributions. In addition, we employ a BNNs with uncertainty estimation, boosting confidence in predictions and reducing phase identification errors. In our case study, we achieved approximately 98% +/- 0.08 accuracy with uncertainty using minimal and unreliable labeled data from a real U.S. utility, Duquesne Light Company. Our SSL approach, combined with uncertainty estimation, provides an efficient solution for phase identification in AMI data, ultimately improving the reliability of smart grid applications.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Smart-DS: Synthetic Models for Advanced, Realistic Testing: Distribution Systems and Scenarios

The explosion of new ideas for distributed energy resources and advanced distribution grid algorithms faces a critical challenge: how can one effectively develop and evaluate these breakthrough technologies without an adequate set of power systems network, load, and resource data to test against? Today's open test systems, particularly for distribution systems, are tiny and incomplete; and though with enough effort, obtaining utility data under NDA can overcome scale challenges, the results can't be openly shared, preventing fair comparison. The Smart-DS project-led by NREL in partnership with MIT, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, CYME, and EDD-is working to overcome this gap by generating multiple large-scale, open, synthetic, distribution systems that are realistic but not real. These datasets go beyond a single medium voltage feeder (~1000 customers) to cover entire metropolitan areas and their surrounds with up to hundreds of feeders and millions of customers, complete with low voltage customer connections and high voltage sub-transmission. This scale allows adequate testing and analysis of not just local controls and advanced DERs, but also multiple substation interactions, optimized switching, full-scale distribution-OPF, and more. To accompany these datasets, the project is also building a rich set of scenario generation tools that can be used for distribution and transmission systems alike. This includes automated, spatially aware access to world-class, high-resolution solar, wind, and weather data: forward looking generation mixes: and highly configurable DER, load, climate, outage, control-scheme, and other scenarios. We will also highlight DiTTo, an exciting open-source, multi-way distribution dataset transformation tool for many-to-many format translation with scenario, merge/split, and many other manipulation capabilities.

DERs↗

Design and evaluation of a cyber‐physical testbed for improving attack resilience of power systems

Abstract A power system is a complex cyber‐physical system whose security is critical to its function. A major challenge is to model, analyse and visualise the communication backbone of the power systems concerning cyber threats. To achieve this, the design and evaluation of a cyber‐physical power system (CPPS) testbed called Resilient Energy Systems Lab (RESLab) are presented to capture realistic cyber, physical, and protection system features. RESLab is architected to be a fundamental platform for studying and improving the resilience of complex CPPS to cyber threats. The cyber network is emulated using Common Open Research Emulator (CORE), which acts as a gateway for the physical and protection devices to communicate. The physical grid is simulated in the dynamic time frame using Power World Dynamic Studio (PWDS). The protection components are modelled with both PWDS and physical devices including the SEL Real‐Time Automation Controller (RTAC). Distributed Network Protocol 3 (DNP3) is used to monitor and control the grid. Then, the design is exemplified and the tools are validated. This work presents four case studies on cyberattack and defence using RESLab, where we demonstrate false data and command injection using Man‐in‐the‐Middle and Denial of Service attacks and validate them on a large‐scale synthetic electric grid.

Sahu, Abhijeet↗

Data-Driven Distribution System Coordinated PV Inverter Control Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

The deployment of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has increased consistently over the past decades. High penetrations of PVs could cause a series of adverse grid impacts, such as voltage violations. The recent development of smart inverter technologies rises the incentives of developing PV control solutions that regulate the inverter output power and seeking the optimization on system operational objectives. This paper proposes a data-driven control solution based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to optimize PV inverters for voltage regulation. The proposed solution can minimize PV real power curtailment while maintaining network voltage at an acceptable range. Comparison results between the proposed DRL control algorithms with deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) and volt-var control on a real feeder in west Colorado highlight the advantage of the proposed framework in controlling the system voltage while minimizing the PV real power curtailment.

deep reinforcement learning↗

Data-Driven Adaptive Damping Controller for Wind Power Plants with Doubly-Fed Induction Generators: Preprint

This paper presents an adaptive damping controller for wind power plants in which the turbines are equipped with doubly-fed induction generators. The controller is designed to respond to an input control signal that is triggered according to the system operating conditions. A processing unit continuously estimates the electromechanical modes of oscillation based on real-time streaming data acquired from a phasor measurement unit that is strategically positioned on the grid. The decision to trigger (or not trigger) the control signal is automatic, based on the relative damping of the dominant mode. The modes are estimated using the dynamic mode decomposition algorithm with time-delay embedding. Numerical simulations performed on the two-area system demonstrate that the proposed controller enhances the rotor angle stability for both small-signal and large disturbances, and is adaptive to changing grid conditions.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Designing resilient IoT and Edge Computing with federated tinyML

The rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Edge Computing (EC) has brought significant conveniences to modern society but has also greatly expanded the cyber attack surfaces, particularly as these technologies are being increasingly integrated into critical systems such as power grids, healthcare, and smart homes. Here, to improve IoT/EC’s cybersecurity posture, we leveraged Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) by employing tinyML to monitor voluminous IoT data for cyber threats while addressing devices’ resource constraints, and utilizing Federated Learning (FL) to share local detection knowledge across the system while preserving privacy. Building on our three-layer architecture combining tinyML and FL to enhance autonomous cyber attack detection, this paper demonstrated that the architecture improves detection accuracy, reduces resource consumption, and enables lightweight, secure IoT device monitoring. These results were validated using the public N-BaIoT dataset as well as real IoT network traffic data collected under multiple attack scenarios from our testbeds. Additionally, we introduced an enhanced FL methodology with a novel preprocessing stage, including federated feature selection and global preprocessor construction, to address IoT/EC data heterogeneity. We developed a physical IoT testbed for attack simulations and data collection, implemented a tinyML-powered detector for realistic model validation, and also built a virtual testbed for scalable evaluations of FL models across diverse network environments.

Cognitive cyber↗

Coordinated Inverter Control to Increase Dynamic PV Hosting Capacity: A Real-Time Optimal Power Flow Approach

High penetrations of distributed photovoltaics (PV) could cause adverse grid impacts, such as voltage violations. The recent development in inverter technologies provides the opportunity to develop control systems to realize effective PV governance and thus to improve dynamic PV hosting capacity for distribution grids. In this paper, a novel distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) solution is proposed by adopting the real-time optimal power flow (OPF) approach for coordinated control of the distributed PV inverters. The proposed approach eliminates the dependence on load knowledge via measurement feedback correction, and it can be implemented in real time. One challenge is that the technique is sensitive to the data availability and integrity of voltage measurements. Therefore, a decentralized DERMS approach is developed by leveraging the concepts of state estimation. The framework and the effectiveness of the solution approach are numerically demonstrated on a real distribution feeder in Southern California.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

On data-driven energy flexibility quantification: A framework and case study

Building energy flexibility is an important resource for a sustainable and resilient power grid, and an important measure to reduce utility costs for building owners. Quantifying energy flexibility for existing buildings can provide critical insights in optimizing their operation. Data-driven methods for building energy modeling and analytics are gaining popularity due to the increasingly available sensor and meter infrastructure, affordable computational resources, and advanced modeling algorithms. However, their application in quantifying the energy flexibility of real buildings is still limited due to the heterogeneous data types and limited data availability. Here, this study proposes a framework for building-level data-driven energy flexibility quantification that considers different levels of data availability and use cases. Two case studies with real building data collected at different scales were conducted to demonstrate the proposed framework for different purposes.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

MegaWatt Mayhem: Grid Operator Challenges Center Loads

This report provides a summary of the challenges faced by United States electricity grid operators in accommodating and anticipating the rapid deployment of large loads, particularly data centers, based on academic literature and industry working groups. The report highlights the unique requirements and operational characteristics of data centers, which differ significantly from traditional industrial loads. Key issues addressed utility planning considerations, with emphasis on the implications for grid operators, impacts to normal operations for grid operators, reliability considerations during periods of grid stress, and resilience considerations for the changing operational paradigms based on data centers. Real-world examples are used to highlight these challenges and the changes that grid operators must address. The findings underscore the necessity for coordinated efforts and innovative solutions from both grid operators and regulatory bodies to ensure the stable integration of large loads into the grid. This report is the first in a series that will explore the challenges of data center deployments based on several key power system perspectives.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Rapid Evaluation and Response to Impacts on Critical End-Use Loads Following Natural Hazard-Driven Power Outages: A Modular and Responsive Geospatial Technology

The disparate nature of data for electric power utilities complicates the emergency recovery and response process. The reduced efficiency of response to natural hazards and disasters can extend the time that electrical service is not available for critical end-use loads, and in extreme events, leave the public without power for extended periods. This article presents a methodology for the development of a semantic data model for power systems and the integration of electrical grid topology, population, and electric distribution line reliability indices into a unified, cloud-based, serverless framework that supports power system operations in response to extreme events. An iterative and pragmatic approach to working with large and disparate datasets of different formats and types resulted in improved application runtime and efficiency, which is important to consider in real time decision-making processes during hurricanes and similar catastrophic events. This technology was developed initially for Puerto Rico, following extreme hurricane and earthquake events in 2017 and 2020, but is applicable to utilities around the world. Given the highly abstract and modular design approach, this technology is equally applicable to any geographic region and similar natural hazard events. In addition to a review of the requirements, development, and deployment of this framework, technical aspects related to application performance and response time are highlighted.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Strategic Research and Development Insights for Digital Twins

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is pleased to provide our response to the NITRD RFI on Digital Twins Research and Development. Digital twins are virtual representations of physical systems, leveraging real-time data to simulate and predict behaviors. ORNL is advancing digital twin technology across various disciplines, including neutron scattering, networking, science ecosystems, supercomputing, secure facilities, mobility technologies, materials design and discovery, power systems, fusion reactors, biological sciences, and earth observation. These efforts aim to enhance scientific research, operational efficiency, and decision-making processes. ORNL facilities, such as the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), Grid-C, Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), and Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), provide the infrastructure to develop and demonstrate these digital twin technologies. In this document, we lay out key challenges, research gaps, and future opportunities based on our experience with digital twins that aim to serve as useful contributions towards a National Digital Twins R&D Strategic Plan. In the remaining document, we address nine of the thirteen topic areas specified in the RFI.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗