PRIME: a real-time cyber-physical systems testbed: from wide-area monitoring, protection, and control prototyping to operator training and beyond

• Main Authors: Tamara Becejac, Crystal Eppinger, Aditya Ashok, Urmila Agrawal, James O'Brien
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2020-02-01
• Series: IET Cyber-Physical Systems
• Subjects: smart power grids; power system measurement; power grids; power system security; distributed power generation; power engineering computing; fault location; power system control; power system simulation; power distribution control; energy management systems; real-time cyber-physical systems testbed; control prototyping; operator training; power grid; advanced wide-area monitoring; control algorithms; wampac; realistic testbed environments; industry-grade software; hardware-in-the-loop; validation studies; ideal platforms; cyberattack scenarios; pnnl cyber; integrates real-time transmission system; commercial industry-grade energy management system software; remote hil; modular testbed; high-fidelity rhil experimentation; power system; detailed case studies; prime testbed; larger test systems
• Online Access: https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/iet-cps.2019.0049

As the power grid continues to evolve with advanced wide-area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC) algorithms, there is an increasing need for realistic testbed environments with industry-grade software and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) to perform verification and validation studies. Such testbed environments serve as ideal platforms to perform WAMPAC prototyping, operator training, and also to study the impacts of different types of cyberattack scenarios on the operation of the grid. In this study, the authors introduce pacific northwest national laboratory(PNNL) cyber-physical systems testbed (PRIME): the testbed that integrates real-time transmission system simulator with commercial industry-grade energy management system software and remote HIL (RHIL). PRIME is an end-to-end, modular testbed that allows high-fidelity RHIL experimentation of a power system. We present two detailed case studies (fault location and clearing in the transmission system and operator training) to show the capabilities of their PRIME testbed. Finally, we briefly discuss some of the potential limitations of their testbed in terms of scalability and flexibility to set up larger test systems and identify directions for future work to address these limitations.