Protecting Energy Resource
Systems with Cyber Security
Mark A. Harral, JD
CEO
Secure Management of Electric Grid
Only through innovations in cyber security can advances in energy optimization and management handle the
expanding role of variable energy resources (e.g. wind and solar) on the electric grid. The management of the electric
grid requires real time data processing for utility operators to provide a reliable electric service to customers across the
electric grid.
Electric grid operators and generators must develop, test, and use innovative technologies in cyber security in order to
protect generation, storage, transmission, and distribution assets. Each of these assets provide operators terabytes of
data which is interpreted by operators when making actionable decisions.
Ecosystem of Electric Grid
TTU and Group NIRE’s
Research Facilities
Original Vision of Center
Two WTGs-5MW
1MW Battery
Sandia 900kW
Alstom 1.67MW
Electrical System of Center
5MW
Wind
Turbines
X
Erskine Sub-station
(3.5 going to 5 MW)
(SPEC, Golden
Spread
Electric Coop)
Xcel,
Southwest
Power Pool
115kV
12.47 kV
12.47 kV
CCET 1 MW
Storage Battery
2 MW Load
Center at
Reese
SWIFT Facility
(900 kW initially, up to
3.6 MW eventually)
12.47 kV X
X
Reese
Sub-station
(1.0 MW)
(SPEC, Golden Spread
Electric Coop)
To Carlisle Substation, Xcel,
Southwest
Power Pool
22kV
Key
Existing
X
Proposed New
South Plains
Electric Coop
(SPEC)
Proposed New
Group NIRE
1.7 MW
Alstom
Turbine
Hurlwood
Sub-station
(3.5MW)
(SPEC, Golden Spread
Electric Coop)
69kV
Not to scale
Yuma Substation
(15MW)
(SPEC, Golden Spread
Electric Coop)
Proposed Interconnect
Interconnect
X
Breaker
Grid-Scale Battery Storage
• Research Objectives: Deploy a grid-scale battery storage system at Reese Center
to study synergistic use cases of battery storage and wind energy
– Increase understanding of the interaction between wind energy production, the grid and
grid loads
– Analysis on energy management for storage, battery performance, energy dispatch,
reliability, ramp rate and frequency stabilization
– Produce optimization algorithms for the energy flow between the battery, the wind
farm, and the utility grid
Samsung Lithium Manganese
Oxide (LMO) Cell Utilized in the
Battery System
5/29/2016
1MW, 1MWh, Nominal voltage 947 V
Li-ion Battery System
Texas Tech University Center For Pulsed Power & Power Electronics
7
DOE-SNL SWIFT Three WTGs
• SWiFT will consist of three
research-scale wind turbines
• The turbines form a 3-, 5-, and
6-rotor-diameter-length
triangle.
• The site has been prepared to
add seven additional researchscale wind turbines in the
future.
Initial Three WTGs
Commissioned SWiFT Facility
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5NsjQ-8nQkI#action=share
Response: Gather and Use Real Time Data
2003 Blackout and Response
Operators Begin
Installing SensorsPMUs across the
electric grid sampling
at 30-60 hz
2003 Blackout
The blackout's primary cause was a software bug in
the alarm system at a control room of the First Energy
Corporation in Ohio. Operators were unaware of the
need to re-distribute power after overloaded
transmission lines hit unpruned foliage. What would
have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into
widespread distress on the electric grid.
Cascade was due to grid operators
not seeing what was occurring on
the electric grid in real time.
Response: Gather and Use Real Time Data
Operators Begin
Installing SensorsPMUs across the
electric grid sampling
at 30-60 hz
TTU and Group NIRE’s Efforts in
Electric Grid and Cyber Security
Research
TTU-GNIRE PMU Network
•
•
•
With DOE-CCET Funding, TTU and GNIRE have
developed a PMU network to do real research
use real time data.
Deployed in the panhandle portion of SPP
(blue shaded area) which covers part of the
Texas panhandle and SE New Mexico
4 Units Presently Installed (red stars)
–
–
–
–
•
Possible Future Installs (yellow stars)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
Texas Tech Campus
Reese Center (Alstom)
Reese Center (Swift)
Draw, TX (Lyntegar)
Mustang Station (486 MW)
GSPWR (78 MW)
Antelope Station (168 MW)
Sirrus Wind Farm (64 MW)
Plains Coop Oil Mill
XFAB Texas
Pantex
Database Locations
– Primary @ Reese Center
– Backup @ TTU Campus
Cyber Security Testing Facility
• By using real world data from the
RTC microgrid, the RTC is the only
location in the United States
where new cyber security
methods can be tested against the
performance of an operational
electrical system
• The initial effort will extend the
Security Fabric (SF) demonstration
with Intel, McAfee, Electric Power
Group, ERCOT, and CCET to include
all data communications between
the utility’s substation and its
control center equipment,
including both synchrophasor data
and SCADA data, and demonstrate
Class A service for grid control.
Response: Gather and Use Real Time Data
Operators Begin
Installing SensorsPMUs across the
electric grid sampling
at 30-60 hz
Electrical System of Center
5MW
Wind
Turbines
X
Erskine Sub-station
(3.5 going to 5 MW)
(SPEC, Golden
Spread
Electric Coop)
Xcel,
Southwest
Power Pool
115kV
12.47 kV
12.47 kV
CCET 1 MW
Storage Battery
2 MW Load
Center at
Reese
SWIFT Facility
(900 kW initially, up to
3.6 MW eventually)
12.47 kV X
X
Reese
Sub-station
(1.0 MW)
(SPEC, Golden Spread
Electric Coop)
To Carlisle Substation, Xcel,
Southwest
Power Pool
22kV
Key
Existing
X
Proposed New
South Plains
Electric Coop
(SPEC)
Proposed New
Group NIRE
1.7 MW
Alstom
Turbine
Hurlwood
Sub-station
(3.5MW)
(SPEC, Golden Spread
Electric Coop)
69kV
Not to scale
Yuma Substation
(15MW)
(SPEC, Golden Spread
Electric Coop)
Proposed Interconnect
Interconnect
X
Breaker
Cyber Security is critical to prevent
disasters
Transformer Explosion
Twenty Seconds Matters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDLzgZdt8ZM
Transformer Explosion in City Limits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr0JpZ80-lE
Questions