SecDER

Photovoltaic and wind power plants, as well as other alternative energy sources, operate as part of a network: Here, many small systems work together; both photovoltaic systems on private homes and large wind farms feed electricity into the energy grid in equal measure and are connected via the internet to form a so-called smart grid, an intelligent energy system.

However, every single small component in the system can be exploited as an attack vector—decentralized energy systems are therefore exposed to a wide range of risks and are more vulnerable to cyberattacks than the traditional centralized energy supply system. This is because attackers now have access to both attack vectors from conventional IT environments and attack methods specific to energy systems. The risk of cyberattacks and technical disruptions is therefore much higher; they can lead to operational disruptions or even a partial or complete failure of the power supply.

Virtual power plants (VPPs) are considered the power plant structure of the future, set to replace conventional large-scale power plants. Here, a VP refers to the bundling of many decentralized energy generators, storage units, and consumers into a single technical system. The data from each individual facility is collected at short intervals and processed by the VP.

Enhanced Cybersecurity for Virtual Power Plants

The SecDER research project investigates how the power system can be made more fail-safe. To this end, the project partners are focusing on virtual power plants and examining methods to secure them against both cyberattacks on IT systems and technical malfunctions, thereby making them resilient. Resilient systems are characterized by their ability to respond to cyberattacks, bugs, or technical malfunctions and automatically return to the desired operating state. Fundamental to this is a so-called resilience cycle comprising the five phases “Prepare – Prevent – Protect – Respond – Recover.” Together, all phases contribute to minimizing the impact of a disruption and restoring the system’s functionality.

Fraunhofer SIT: Strategies for Attack Defense

The experts at Fraunhofer SIT are working on SecDER to develop strategies for defending against attacks on VK. In the “prepare” phase for potential attacks, researchers focus on threat analyses, relevant security standards, IT security requirements, and best practices in the field. Potential preventive measures (“prevent”) are then supported by the definition, detection, aggregation, and evaluation of incidents. To protect the virtual power plant, an IT security concept is being developed that is in line with existing industry-specific standards, laws, and regulations.

A resilient virtual power plant must be able to respond (“respond”) to disruptions in the short term with defined procedures for defense and avoidance. To this end, the researchers must find alternatives to ensure the power plant’s continued operation despite an attack, such as changes to security measures, tasks, and load distribution. Finally, the system must be restored to a trusted state (“recover”) so that tasks and services can once again be performed optimally.

Future virtual power plants should be able to learn from the attacker so that, following (emergency) recovery, a known attack can be largely repelled. Researchers at Fraunhofer SIT are investigating the extent to which new resilience strategies can be applied to hardware and software in the virtual power plant. The developed methods are being tested so that resulting recommendations for the resilient operation of virtual power plants can be developed and verified.

Fraunhofer IEE and SIT are working on the subproject “Failure Detection and Resilience Strategies for Decentralized Energy Systems.” Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts is researching AI-based methods for detecting attacks, and DECOIT GmbH is developing an incident information system (SIS). The project partners ENERTRAG AG and ANE GmbH & Co. KG are contributing their expertise in the operation of virtual power plants to the work and providing support for field tests.

About SecDER

SecDER began on April 1, 2021, and has a duration of 36 months. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and supported by the Jülich Project Management Agency. The total funding amounts to 2.7 million euros.