A remedial action framework against cyberattacks targeting energy hubs integrated with distributed energy resources

Abstract

Operation of modern power systems integrated by distributed energy resources is only possible if information/communication technologies are leveraged in the system. This results in cyber-physical power systems which are vulnerable to malicious cyberattacks. Hence, it is crucial to propose practical solutions to enhance the resilience of smart grids against cyberattacks. Targeting energy hubs integrated by distributed energy resources, a cyberattack based on min–max formulation is presented in this paper. A remedial action scheme, which changes status (i.e., connection/disconnection) of the energy hub components, is proposed to mitigate the economic effect of the aforementioned cyberattack. The electricity/heat demands of the energy hub are supplied by electricity/gas networks and the energy hub components including combined heat and power, wind turbine, electrical/thermal storages, boiler, and demand response. The attacker utilizes the energy hub components to increase the associated costs. However, the system operator controls the costs by changing the status of the energy hub devices. Obtained results verify that the proposed framework leads to an effective mechanism to proactively mitigate the economic-related consequences of cyberattacks on energy hubs. The simulation results demonstrate that: 1) disconnection of the energy hub from electricity networks under the cyberattack mitigates the increased cost by 40%, 2) disconnection of the energy hub from boiler and connection of thermal storage to the system under the experienced cyberattack reduce the imposed cost by 76%.