Assessment and Coordination of DER Cybersecurity Standards
This slide deck summarizes NREL's accomplishments for last three years under the Securing Solar for the Grid (S2G) project.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
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CARILEC Resilient Energy Community CoP for Cybersecurity Workshop Series: Cybersecurity Assessment Tools [Slides]
For the last several years and in collaboration with CARILEC, USAID and NREL have been working to support cyber resilience at power sector utilities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Direct technical assistance with regional utilities has been a key component of USAID-NREL Partnership activities, and technical assistance has typically included a foundational cybersecurity assessment using NREL's Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Framework (DER-CF) tool. The DER-CF allows organizations to benchmark and evaluate their cybersecurity posture across the areas of Governance, Technical Management, and Physical Security. To complement the activities of the newly created CAREC IT/OT and Cybersecurity Team, this webinar on cybersecurity assessment tools includes an overview of the DER-CF tool and a discussion with regional stakeholders and NREL experts on the DER-CF assessment process and other resources for cybersecurity assessments.
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Cybersecurity Assessment for a Behind-the-Meter Solar PV System: A Use Case for the DER-CF
The world's energy production is shifting toward lower-cost, cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable sources. The increasing numbers of distributed energy resources (DERs) are allowing for the rapid transformation of electric grids toward achieving the goal of energy decarbonization. Along with cleaner and more efficient energy, however, we must also aim for a secure energy future. Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are an important part of this transition. This paper discusses a cybersecurity risk assessment for behind-the-meter DERs using a solar PV system as a use case of the Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Framework (DER-CF) developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This poster presents a conference paper on the risk assessment processes and summarizes the DER-CF's use case recommendations to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of the electric grid.
cybersecurity↗
Securing Solar for the Grid: Extreme Control Whitepaper
Emerging standards outlining desired behaviors for Distributed Energy Resources (DER), such as IEEE 1547-2018, define several device-level control functions to regulate DER power injections/consumptions in response to locally sensed grid conditions. The ability to adjust settings of aggregations of DER with standardized embedded control functionality constitutes a mechanism which can, potentially, create undesirable or deleterious effects on the power grid. The purpose of this white paper is to highlight unintended effects stemming from improperly tuned embedded control functions in Distributed Energy Resources (DER), which could be exploited by a malicious entity as a means to attack the power grid.
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Cybersecurity Certification Standard for Distributed Energy and Inverter Based Resources
NREL and UL co-presented on their joint effort to develop a cybersecurity certification standard for distributed energy resources (DERs) at a meeting of the Cybersecurity Advisory Team for State Solar (CATSS). The advisory team is hosted by NASEO & NARUC. The presentation outlined the benefits of a cybersecurity certification standard, the outcomes of previous initiatives, how this effort reflects the evolving electric grid, and the role of state energy offices. UL explained their role as a trusted third party with expertise to lead this effort and the process from Outline of Investigation (OOI) to a certification standard.
BPS↗
Integration of Microgrids, DER Aggregators, and DERMS with ADMS
Distributed energy resource (DER) management and control is disjointed, siloed, and at times conflicting. Behind-the-meter (BTM) assets can provide significant flexibility but are poorly integrated with the grid. Centralized control methods alone are not scalable. The objective is to develop and demonstrate an architecture that: provides reliable, resilient, and secure grid services; enables scalable, near-real-time management of utility- and small-scale DERs; supports transactive control, aggregation, and direct control of DERs; and incorporates existing utility management systems.
ADMS↗
Modeling distributed energy resource aggregations in security constrained unit commitment and economic dispatch
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently issued Order 2222, which requires all wholesale electricity markets in the US to allow distributed energy resources (DERs) to participate in the market as aggregated resources. These DER aggregations may be composed of many individual resources that are offered and dispatched by the market as a single entity. We present here a model of a distributed energy resource aggregator (DERA) that is scheduled by a market operator’s security constrained unit commitment (SCUC) and security constrained economic dispatch (SCED). The DERA model includes constraints for battery energy storage systems (BESSs), demand response resources (DRRs), and a simple distributed energy resource (DER). This paper describes a model for each resource type and presents two methods for the DERA to generate market offer curves: a profit-maximizing optimization to compute cost curves and a direct cost algorithm to determine dispatch costs for each resource and combine into cost curves. Once all participating DERAs are scheduled in SCUC/SCED, the model is then modified to dispatch individual DERs to maximize profit or minimize schedule deviation of the DERAs. A simulation of a representative day illustrates the DERA offers, the scheduled generation, and the DERA dispatch. Findings show the potential for unavoidable schedule deviations due to internal DER constraints and due to economic incentives to deviate from the SCUC/SCED schedules. This highlights the importance of DERA offer construction on market efficiency and system reliability. Novel aspects of our approach include: (1) We consider the asymmetry of price incentives impacting DERAs from the wholesale market compared to those impacting consumers from the retail market, as imposed by current regulations and laws. (2) We model aggregate consumer response through statistically parameterizable utility functions rather than a potentially impractical approach of modeling each individual consumer. (3) We show how to use the DERA operational dispatch model to create offers into the wholesale electricity market. (4) We show how DERAs may fail to meet their scheduled dispatch because the market offer format may not permit them to fully express their operational features such as intertemporal costs and constraints to the market.
aggregations↗
Distribution System Blackstart and Restoration Using DERs and Dynamically Formed Microgrids
Extreme weather events have led to long-duration outages in the distribution system (DS), necessitating novel approaches to blackstart and restore the system. Existing blackstart solutions utilize blackstart units to establish multiple microgrids (MGs), sequentially energize non-blackstart units, and restore loads. However, these approaches often result in isolated MGs. In DERs-aided blackstart, the continuous operation of these MGs is limited by the finite energy capacity of commonly used blackstart units like battery energy storage (BES)-based gridforming inverters (GFMIs). To address this issue, this article proposes a holistic blackstart and restoration framework that incorporates synchronization between dynamic MGs and the entire DS with the transmission grid (TG). To support synchronization, we leveraged virtual synchronous generator-based control for GFMIs to estimate their frequency response to load pick-up events using only initial/final quasi-steady-state points. Subsequently, a synchronization switching condition is developed to model synchronizing switches, aligning them seamlessly with a linearized branch flow problem. Finally, we designed a bottomup blackstart and restoration framework that considers the switching structure of the DS, energizing/synchronizing switches, DERs with grid-following inverters, and BES-based GFMIs with frequency security constraints. In conclusion, the proposed framework is validated in IEEE-123-bus system, considering cases with two and four GFMIs under various TG recovery instants.
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Considerations for Distributed Energy Resource Integration in Puerto Rico: DOE Multi-Lab Grid Modeling Support for Puerto Rico; Analytical Support for Interconnection and IEEE Std 1547-2018 National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Task 3.0)
To ensure the sustainable long-term recovery of Puerto Rico's electric power grid from hurricanes María and Irma and to build capacity to manage future potential natural disasters in the most secure and resilient way, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) convened experts from multiple national laboratories to develop a comprehensive set of data, models, analytic tools, and studies, considering inputs from a wide variety of stakeholder groups, to support technically sound recommendations for Puerto Rico's energy investment decisions. A resilient electric grid is vital to Puerto Rico's security, economy, and way of life, and it will provide the foundation for essential services that people and businesses on the island rely on every day. This report shows progress for a grid modeling task under the DOE-sponsored project that is a collaboration among the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and other national laboratories. In Phase 1 of the multilab effort to support Puerto Rico's recovery, NREL provided the utility company Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) recommendations for a new framework of interconnection standards to accelerate the integration of utility-scale, transmission-connected renewable electrical generation and energy storage that ensure cross-technology compatibility and enable high deployment levels without compromising grid reliably, safety, or security. This Phase 2 report focuses on the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs) to the electric distribution system in Puerto Rico. This report is intended to familiarize the reader with Puerto Rico's distribution infrastructure and operational practices and procedures that are relevant to DER interconnection. The report also provides considerations for streamlining the interconnection process given the expected increase in deployments resulting from Puerto Rico's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal of 100% renewables by 2050. Accordingly, the report identifies considerations and concerns associated with the increase in intermittent generation, strategies for DER interconnection best practices, and the potential use of the latest technological solutions identified in the latest revision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1547-2018 interconnection standard.
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Electrical Fault Detection, Power Quality, Distributed Energy Resource Use Cases, and Cyber Event Applications with the Cyber Grid Guard System Using Distributed Ledger Technology
Electrical utilities continue to deploy more intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) inside and outside electrical substation and are associated with distributed energy resources (DERs). The integrity and confidentiality of data from IEDs is crucial, and distributed ledger technology (DLT) could improve the resilience of microgrids by helping to make these data more secure. The most popular applications using blockchain technology for electrical utilities is in the field is based on energy trading. However, the dynamism of the penetration of customer owned DERs and the deployment of sensors with IEDs have led to the identification of new applications using DLT that are focused on other areas, such as monitoring, operation and management of the grid and its assets. In addition, the majority of studies on electrical grid applications with blockchain were validated with software simulations. Although general monitoring of power systems for using DLT could be evaluated in operational electric grids, other DLT research applications such as defense against cyber-attacks and/or electrical fault detection are not likely to be performed in a real infrastructure because of possible risks to the network/equipment security. This report summarizes the application of power system applications using distributed ledger technology (DLT), providing a secure DLT framework for collecting data from IEDs like power meters and protective relays inside and outside of an electrical substation and/or between two different electrical utilities. In this study, the use case scenarios were created and assessed for different power system application by using DLT. The electrical fault detection for faulted phases (1), power quality monitoring of phase voltage magnitudes, frequency levels and load power factor (2), DERs use case monitoring (3), and cyber-event applications (4) were performed in a test bed with a Cyber-Grid Guard (CGG) system using DLT. It had a real-time simulator with power meters and protective relays in-the-loop. The first section of this report presents a literature review of power system applications using blockchain at research level. The second section shows the theory and equations used on this report. The third section shows the description of the test bed, equipment, architecture, and electrical grid diagrams. The fourth section shows the experimental models and use case scenarios that were performed for the electrical fault detection, power quality, DERs use case, and cyber event applications with the CGG system using DLT. The fifth section shows the results collected from the tests based on comparing the time stamped events of the analog signals from the IEDs, DLT computer and real time simulator. The sixth section performed the discussion of the results for the use case scenarios. Finally, section seven presents the conclusions for this report were presented.
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Network Constraints Consideration for Grid-Edge Energy Management System
Increased deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) in distribution system is bringing need for enhanced grid intelligence, control, and flexibility. This is significant at the edge of the grid where DERs, loads or microgrids are located. Integrated DERs in a distribution system need to follow grid codes to avoid violations that results in DER disconnection. To comply with grid code requirements (e.g. IEEE 1547-2018) at the grid edge level, network constrained grid edge energy management system (GEEMS) is proposed in this paper. The objective of GEEMS is to provide economic solution for active and reactive power dispatch set-points at each interval and ensure voltage regulation to support secure interconnection of the grid edge segment to the distribution system. To evaluate the proposed GEEMS framework, four DERs are included into IEEE 13 bus system. GEEMS outperforms the existing economic dispatch-based energy management system by reducing the voltage violation.
Electric vehicle depot charging station↗
Energy Resilient Recovery in Puerto Rico: Hurricane Maria Recovery Support
This report covers microgrids as a special application of distributed energy resources (DERs) in Puerto Rico. This is one of a series of reports describing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) multi-laboratory efforts undertaken. To ensure the sustainable, long-term recovery of Puerto Rico's electric power grid from hurricanes Maria and Irma and to build capacity to manage future potential natural disasters in the most secure and resilient way, DOE convened experts from multiple national laboratories to develop a comprehensive set of data, models, analytic tools, and studies, considering inputs from a wide variety of stakeholder groups, to support technically sound recommendations for Puerto Rico's energy investment decisions. In Phase 1 of the multi-laboratory effort to support Puerto Rico's recovery, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provided the utility company Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) recommendations for a new framework of interconnection standards to accelerate the integration of utility-scale, transmission-connected, renewable electrical generation and energy storage that ensure cross-technology compatibility and enable high deployment levels without compromising grid reliability, safety, or security (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/73848.pdf). In Phase 2, NREL published a report focused on the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs) to the electric distribution system in Puerto Rico (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77127.pdf). This report familiarized the reader with Puerto Rico's distribution infrastructure and operational practices and procedures that are relevant to DER interconnection. The report also provided considerations for streamlining the interconnection process given the expected increase in deployments resulting from Puerto Rico's renewable portfolio standard goal of 100% renewables by 2050. Accordingly, the report identifies considerations and concerns associated with the increase in intermittent generation, strategies for DER interconnection best practices, and the potential use of the latest technological solutions identified in the latest revision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1547-2018 interconnection standard. Additionally, the report identified ways to improve the physical resiliency of installed DERs. This task describes how distributed energy systems may participate in and contribute to improving the resiliency of Puerto Rico's energy infrastructure in the future. This report presents an analysis of the Puerto Rico grid to illustrate the possible different microgrid and minigrid scenarios. The capability to form sustained microgrids and minigrids has the potential to provide a high level of resiliency during disturbances on the grid. DERs, on the other hand, have the capability to aid in the microgrid operation by providing grid support as well as grid-forming functionality. Other tasks in Phase 3 include voltage regulation in distribution networks using DERs and transmission-and-distribution co-simulation.
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Total Power Factor Smart Contract with Cyber Grid Guard Using Distributed Ledger Technology for Electrical Utility Grid with Customer-Owned Wind Farm
In modern electrical grids, the numbers of customer-owned distributed energy resources (DERs) have increased, and consequently, so have the numbers of points of common coupling (PCC) between the electrical grid and customer-owned DERs. The disruptive operation of and out-of-tolerance outputs from DERs, especially owned DERs, present a risk to power system operations. A common protective measure is to use relays located at the PCC to isolate poorly behaving or out-of-tolerance DERs from the grid. Ensuring the integrity of the data from these relays at the PCC is vital, and blockchain technology could enhance the security of modern electrical grids by providing an accurate means to translate operational constraints into actions/commands for relays. This study demonstrates an advanced power system application solution using distributed ledger technology (DLT) with smart contracts to manage the relay operation at the PCC. The smart contract defines the allowable total power factor (TPF) of the DER output, and the terms of the smart contract are implemented using DLT with a Cyber Grid Guard (CGG) system for a customer-owned DER (wind farm). This article presents flowcharts for the TPF smart contract implemented by the CGG using DLT. The test scenarios were implemented using a real-time simulator containing a CGG system and relay in-the-loop. The data collected from the CGG system were used to execute the TPF smart contract. The desired TPF limits on the grid-side were between +0.9 and +1.0, and the operation of the breakers in the electrical grid and DER sides was controlled by the relay consistent with the provisions of the smart contract. The events from the real-time simulator, CGG, and relay showed a successful implementation of the TPF smart contract with CGG using DLT, proving the efficacy of this approach in general for implementing electrical grid applications for utilities with connections to customer-owned DERs.
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Federated Architecture for Secure and Transactive Distributed Energy Resource Management Solutions (FAST-DERMS)
Develop a controls architecture to manage a broad range of DERs across the grid for bulk system services through transactive, aggregation, and direct control methods.
bulk system services↗
A Photovoltaic MPPT Charge Controller Real-Time Testbed for Cybersecurity Applications
The increasing deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) over the last decade is a great ally to combat climate change and strengthen the grid during increasingly common extreme weather events. However, DER systems, combined with the ongoing transition to a digital power grid, also pose substantial cybersecurity threats. One of the most common communication protocols used in DER integration is the Distributed Network Protocol 3 (DNP3), which is known to have many security vulnerabilities. Thus, it is essential to investigate cyberattack behaviors and mitigation on power systems using DNP3. In this paper, we designed and implemented a cybersecurity testbed for a simulated photovoltaic (PV) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller. Our testbed uses an MPPT charge controller simulated on a Typhoon HIL602+ real-time simulator with a real DNP3 communication connection over TCP/IP, allowing for safe and efficient monitoring and manipulation of data traffic between the simulated hardware and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.
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JaqalPaq v.1.1
Jaqal-pup (Jaqal Programming Utilities Project) is a high-level Python metaprogramming interface for Jaqal, a quantum programming language for near-term quantum hardware (see https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.09382 for a description of Jaqal). In addition to parsing and writing out Jaqal programs, it includes the ability to read in and write out quantum programs in other languages and frameworks, e.g. Qiskit (IBM), Quil (Rigetti), Cirq (Google), Q# (Microsoft), ProjectQ (ETH Zurich), and tket (Cambridge Quantum Computing). It implements a gate scheduler, an emulator of a small-scale quantum computer programmed using Jaqal, and tie-ins for other simulation back-ends. SAND2020-12710 M Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.
Russo, Antonio↗
Keystone Solar Future Project (KSFP)
The Keystone Solar Future Project (KSFP, also referred to as “Keystone Project” in the report) implements a cost-effective, secure, reliable, and safe technology platform that paves the way for future interconnected distributed energy resources (DER), creates a framework that enables high penetration of DER, and transforms the DER interconnection process. The project is important and necessary in a few aspects. First, the industry definition of Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) is not yet validated against field deployments and mostly implemented in small pilots relying on third party integration. Keystone project implements a direct plug and play communication to inverter based DER systems. Secondly, most interconnection application portal is not yet fully integrated with back-end system, thus lacks the capability to drive a complete and accurate modeling of DER assets into the planning and operational systems. Keystone project rolled out a fully integrated modeling process of DERs from interconnection to operational management. Lastly, customers were given an opportunity to learn about the advanced functions of the inverters and take full advantages of their benefits through participation in the pilot program. During the project, the technical effectiveness and economic feasibility of DER management were investigated and demonstrated in real life events and simulation studies. The project highlighted the importance of coordinated DER interconnection, installation and management with the rest of the distribution system.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
A Blockchain Based Co-Simulation Framework for Integrating DERs into Wholesale Electricity Markets
As the number of distributed energy resources (DERs) continue to increase across energy-delivery systems, there remains a need for integrating their capabilities into traditional grid operations. In this paper, a blockchain-based solution is proposed to facilitate FERC's Order No. 2222 implementations. The presented use-case enables small-scale DERs to participate in wholesale market operations through DER aggregators, while also enabling local distribution system operators to enforce distribution system constraints in a secure and traceable manner. The presented use case is built around the Unified Testing Platform (UTP) being developed as a part of the Blockchain for Optimized Security and Energy Management (BLOSEM) project. This is a multi-lab effort intended to simplify the deployment of blockchain-powered grid solutions by enabling the integration of simulation tools, and blockchain technologies through the use of system-agnostic interfaces that provide a modular, interoperable, and reusable connectivity layer.
blockchain testing↗