Quantum-Secure Microgrid

TL;DR

This paper proposes a quantum key distribution-based architecture for microgrid communication, demonstrating a testbed implementation and a key sharing strategy to enhance security against quantum attacks.

Contribution

It introduces a novel QKD-based microgrid communication framework, a testbed in RTDS, and a key pool sharing strategy to improve cyberattack resilience.

Findings

Successful implementation of a QKD microgrid testbed

Enhanced cyberattack resilience with key pool sharing

Insightful analysis of QKD parameter impacts

Abstract

Existing microgrid communication relies on classical public key systems, which are vulnerable to attacks from quantum computers. This paper uses quantum key distribution (QKD) to solve these quantum-era microgrid challenges. Specifically, this paper makes the following novel contributions: 1) it offers a QKD-based microgrid communication architecture for microgrids; 2) it shows how to build a quantum-secure microgrid testbed in an RTDS environment; 3) it develops a key pool sharing (KPS) strategy to improve the cyberattack resilience of the QKD-based microgrid; and 4) it analyzes the impacts of critical QKD parameters with the testbed. Test results provide insightful resources for building a quantum-secure microgrid.