Resilience and Cybersecurity for Distribution Systems with Distributed Energy Resources

Heightened awareness of the impact of climate change has led to rapidly increasing penetration of renewable energy resources in electric energy distribution systems. Those distributed energy resources (DERs), mostly inverter-based, can act as resiliency sources for the grid but also introduce new control and stability challenges. In this thesis, a cyber-physical system (CPS) testbed is proposed combining a real-time electro-magnetic transient power system simulation and a practical model for communication network simulation. By regularly updating the CPS testbed with real-world SCADA information, a digital twin is effectively created. The digital twin allows the testing of novel microgrid control and cybersecurity strategies. Simulations using the Virginia Tech Electric Service (VTES) as a test case demonstrate the capability of adequately controlled resources, including solar PV, energy storage, and a synchronous generator, to enhance resilience by providing energy to critical loads. The DERs comply with IEEE disturbance ride-through requirements and switching transients are maintained within acceptable limits. A comprehensive DER-based resiliency plan is developed and validated for the Virginia Tech smart grid.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Somda, Baza R.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Liu, Chen-Ching

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Mehrizi-Sani, Ali
• Kekatos, Vassilis

• Microgrid
• Resilience
• Cyber-Physical Systems
• Digital Twins

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/115285

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115285