Enhancing power grid resilience to cyber-physical attacks using distributed retail electricity markets

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hierarchical retail market approach to enhance distribution grid resilience against cyber-physical attacks by coordinating distributed resources through market signals, avoiding direct control and ensuring proper compensation.

Contribution

It presents a novel market-based framework that uses price signals for resource dispatch during attacks, improving resilience without centralized control.

Findings

Market successfully mitigates supply shortfalls during attacks

Utilizes flexible resources to reduce reliance on main grid

Achieves effective coordination through price signals

Abstract

We propose using a hierarchical retail market structure to alert and dispatch resources to mitigate cyber-physical attacks on a distribution grid. We simulate attacks where a number of generation nodes in a distribution grid are attacked. We show that the market is able to successfully meet the shortfall between demand and supply by utilizing the flexibility of remaining resources while minimizing any extra power that needs to be imported from the main transmission grid. This includes utilizing upward flexibility or reserves of remaining online generators and some curtailment or shifting of flexible loads, which results in higher costs. Using price signals and market-based coordination, the grid operator can achieve its objectives without direct control over distributed energy resources and is able to accurately compensate prosumers for the grid support they provide.