An Integrated Research Infrastructure for Validating Cyber-Physical Energy Systems

Abstract

Renewables are key enablers in the plight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cope with anthropogenic global warming. The intermittent nature and limited storage capabilities of renewables culminate in new challenges that power system operators have to deal with in order to regulate power quality and ensure security of supply. At the same time, the increased availability of advanced automation and communication technologies provides new opportunities for the derivation of intelligent solutions to tackle the challenges. Previous work has shown various new methods of operating highly interconnected power grids, and their corresponding components, in a more effective way. As a consequence of these developments, the traditional power system is being transformed into a cyber-physical energy system, a smart grid. Previous and ongoing research have tended to mainly focus on how specific aspects of smart grids can be validated, but until there exists no integrated approach for the analysis and evaluation of complex cyber-physical systems configurations. This paper introduces integrated research infrastructure that provides methods and tools for validating smart grid systems in a holistic, cyber-physical manner. The corresponding concepts are currently being developed further in the European project ERIGrid.

An integrated pan-European research infrastructure for validating smart grid systems

“…As outlined in the introduction, future power systems will contain a heterogeneous agglomeration of different multi-domain technologies (e.g., power, automation, control, and ICT), which need corresponding assessment methods and tools. The focus of the research activities in ERIGrid are on the further development of simulation and laboratory-based approaches, which allow also a flexible coupling of them in a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) manner [9,10,12].…”

“…This paper addresses the above outlined shortcomings on systemlevel testing by discussing the progress of the integrated pan-European Research Infrastructure (RI) project ERIGrid, where proper validation methods and tools are currently being developed for validating smart grid systems and technologies. Whereas the overall ERIGrid approach and corresponding research directions have already been outlined in a previous paper [10], this work mainly focuses on the achievements and activities related to the definition of a system-level validation process as well as on simulation and lab-based assessment methods. Additionally, the concept of an online coupling of various labs is discussed.…”

“…In order to overcome the lack in power system validation and testing as outlined above, eighteen research institutions from eleven European countries are joining their forces and cooperating within the European-funded RI project called "ERIGrid 1 " [10] which is introduced below.…”

ERIGrid Holistic Test Description for Validating Cyber-Physical Energy Systems

“…In this work, we focus on the preparation of technically "holistic" test descriptions (characterised by a multi-domain and systems-of-systems view towards a formalised description covering design and validation) with application to Smart Energy problems, and report its use in a number of cases. The presented approach in this article has been developed in the European ERIGrid project [16] and an early version of it was already discussed in [7,17].…”

Design of experiments aided holistic testing of cyber-physical energy systems

“…However, due to heterogeneous testing setups and workflows, the replication of experimental results is typically challenging and thus often neglected. In order to foster reproducibility and exchange between test infrastructures, the ERIGrid project has set out to develop a standardized process for development and documentation of validation experiments [5], [6]. Due to its system-wide and multi-domain focus, the process is a so called holistic testing procedure.…”