Towards a Testbed for Dependable Power Distribution Grids

Abstract

The evolution of power grids into digitized smart grids (SGs) brings about promising opportunities but also considerable challenges. On the one hand, smart grids promise more efficient, sustainable and reliable operation while providing more market functions and better customer service. On the other, however, the distributed nature of power generation in SGs poses challenges w.r.t. dependable distributed command and control (C2), digital service provisioning, and secure and reliable data communication. Distributed C2 of systems such as SGs hinges on reliable, timely and secure data communication. Thus, future SGs will be fully digitized. As such, for dependable SGs, novel, secure, resilient methods and communication protocols must be developed. In order to do so, a novel hardware-in-the-loop simulation testbed should be developed and used to validate the research that is capable of accurately modelling both the digital IT networks that control the SG, as well as the SG's power infrastructure -- from big transformer substations to pro-sumer households. There is a general lack of hardware integrated test-beds that focus on the distributed control and wireless edge networks for smart grids. In this paper, we demonstrate a cyber-physical testbed development framework, which we believe to help the researchers to in the development future cyber-physical testbeds. Our assessment also revels the need for such testbed for implementation of future SG applications.