WHEN: Monday, April 5, 2021, 3:00 – 3:50 p.m.; Zoom Meeting (contact rsmth@illinois.edu)
SPEAKER: Megan Culler, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UIUC
TITLE: "Security for Grid-Integrated Distributed Energy Resources"
ABSTRACT: The deepening penetrations of distributed energy resources (DERs) integrated into distribution and transmission grids at faster than earlier predicted rates are today’s reality. This situation motivates the urgent need to reliably and securely implement their integration into these grids. Operators must be able to rely on them not only in normal operations, but also under adverse and emergency conditions, such as black starts and cyber attacks. In this presentation, we discuss issues in the communications and the device interfaces and possible ramifications of DER operations under abnormal and adversarial conditions. We examine the specific weaknesses of communications networks in terms of the industrial protocols used and present the benefits of security features. We focus on the device interface vulnerabilities to attacks of DERs, whose integration complies with the IEEE-1547 Standard requirements for DER interconnection and interoperability. Significant consequences of such vulnerabilities range from exacerbation of grid instability to the simultaneous loss of large portions of the integrated DERs and to physical consequences on assets such as inverters and DERs themselves. We associate such outcomes to specific vulnerabilities in an effort to provide resource operators insights into most appropriate mitigation prioritization from better threat intelligence. We also discuss implementable measures to prevent possible threats and planning strategies for grid modernization for better security.
