A Simplified Co-Simulation Model for Investigating Impacts of Cyber-Contingency on Power System Operations

Abstract

In cyber-physical power systems, a contingency in the cyber may hamper secure operations of the physical system by changing the information flows. In order to investigate the degree to which a cyber-contingency affects power system operations, we first categorize the potential impacts on the information flow respecting the end-to-end information features in terms of delayed, disordered, dropped, and distorted data. A simplified co-simulation model is then put forth for analyzing the interdependencies between energy and information flows, and obtaining the quantitative relation between information features and power system operations. As the operational characteristics of a cyber system can be entirely captured by all end-to-end information flows, our developed model is hence termed as the information flow based co-simulation model. The information flow based model features in low complexity and covering potential cyber contingencies. Moreover, the quantitative relation can provide requirements for the planning and operation of cyber systems. To illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed model, a comparison with the commercial communication simulation software OPNET is made. Finally, a wide-area damping control application is taken as an example to demonstrate physical impacts of various cyber-contingencies.