Emulation of Anomalies for Wide-Area Monitoring, Protection and Control System Development

Abstract

For security and stability in smart grid development, identification and reactions to external factors are emphasized through Wide-Area Monitoring Protection and Control (WAMPAC) systems. Anomaly detection and identification are critical to establishing a responsive, controllable grid architecture. In testing anomaly-detection algorithms for WAMPAC applications, there should be a benchmarking process for detection of anomalies and evaluating WAMPAC performance in the presence of anomalies. The ability to create, or emulate, anomalies within a testing environment of WAMPAC systems is a step towards achieving this capability. In this paper, the development and implementation of a software-controlled Anomaly and Fault Generator (AFG) into a 1000:1 scale emulated smart grid testbed is presented. The testbed uses Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) for high accuracy, fidelity, and time synchronization of measurements. The AFG induces controlled faults and anomalous events into the system to evaluate the performance of anomaly detection systems and WAMPAC applications. System events include stolen breakers, electrical faults with variable fault resistance, and hijacking of transducers. High sample-rate, time-synchronized, measurements are also logged by the AFG to compare to WAMPAC system results.