Toward more secure, stronger and smarter electric power grids

Grid communications and control systems are often thought to be much more securely protected than is actually the case. An effective remedial program begins with a thorough and clear-eyed assessment of all vulnerabilities; especially to malware and intrusions. Both the importance and difficulty of protecting power systems have long been recognized. The critical assets that must be accounted for include thousands of transformers, line reactors, series capacitors, and transmission lines. Physical protection of these widely diverse and dispersed assets is impractical and command control layers yield new benefits only if designed correctly and securely, posing additional challenges. Our strategic focus is to better understand the true dynamics of complex interdependent energy/communications/economic networks in order to enable stronger, greener, more secure and smarter power grids. The objective of this project is to model, design and develop a reconfigurable smart end-to-end system supported by secure sensing/wireless communication network and fault-resilient real-time controls.