Abstract
Power system automation and communication standards are spearheading the power system transition towards a smart grid. IEC 61850 is one such standard, which is widely used for substation automation and protection. It enables real-time communication and data exchange between critical substation automation and protection devices within digital substations. However, IEC 61850 is not cyber secure. In this paper, we demonstrate the dangerous implications of not securing IEC 61850 standard. Cyber attacks may exploit the vulnerabilities of the Sampled Values (SV) and Generic Object-Oriented Substation Event (GOOSE) protocols of IEC 61850. The cyber attacks may be realised by injecting spoofed SV and GOOSE data frames into the substation communication network at the bay level. We demonstrate that such cyber attacks may lead to obstruction or tripping of multiple protective relays. Coordinated cyber attacks against the protection system in digital substations may cause generation and line disconnections, triggering cascading failures in the power grid. This may eventually result in a partial or complete blackout. The attack model, impact on system dynamics and cascading failures are veri ed experimentally through a proposed cyber-physical experimental framework that closely resembles real-world conditions within a digital substation, including Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) and protection schemes. It is implemented through Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulations of commercial relays with a Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS).
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of 2020 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe, ISGT-Europe 2020 |
Subtitle of host publication | Proceedings |
Publisher | IEEE |
Pages | 247-254 |
Number of pages | 8 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-7281-7100-5 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-7281-7101-2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Event | 10th IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe, ISGT-Europe 2020 - Virtual/online event due to COVID-19, Delft, Netherlands Duration: 26 Oct 2020 → 28 Oct 2020 Conference number: 10 https://ieee-isgt-europe.org/ |
Publication series
Name | IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference Europe |
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Volume | 2020-October |
Conference
Conference | 10th IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe, ISGT-Europe 2020 |
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Abbreviated title | ISGT-Europe 2020 |
Country/Territory | Netherlands |
City | Delft |
Period | 26/10/20 → 28/10/20 |
Other | Virtual/online event due to COVID-19 |
Internet address |
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-careOtherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Keywords
- Blackout
- Cascading failures
- Cyber attacks
- Cyber security
- IEC 61850
- Power system protection