The electricity network in the Netherlands is increasingly digitised. This offers important advantages, but also brings cyber threats and risks. At the same time, the Netherlands is undergoing a rapid energy transition. TU Delft's Control Room of the Future (CRoF) uses a digital twin to make the electricity grid digitally resilient. The control room also has to steer the energy transition in the right direction. In the living lab, TU Delft aims for an electricity grid that is intelligent, resilient and cyber-secure.
The Netherlands is undergoing a rapid transition to sustainable energy. This brings challenges. For instance, the electricity grid may run into problems. Grid operators have been warning for some time about capacity problems on the grid in various regions. What will happen, for instance, if a new wind farm off the coast of Zandvoort is connected? And how do we keep the electricity grid stable if millions of solar panels are installed on Dutch homes? And how can the Dutch electricity grid allow everyone to charge their electric cars in the future?
Digital twin
A digital twin should provide a solution. A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical entity, in this case the electricity network. The model enables the testing of all kinds of scenarios.
Alex Stefanov, scientific driver and brains behind the Control Room of the Future: "In our control room, new operational technologies are tested, ranging from, for example, innovative energy management systems developed at the university itself to hardware and software solutions developed at industrial partners. Since we can simulate the power grid in real time, we can connect prototypes to the grid and see how they perform under real conditions. That way, we find out how to balance actual generation and actual consumption."
Role for AI and machine learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning play an important role in shaping the electricity grid of the future. Here, AI functions as a kind of autopilot. Stefanov: "As the operation of the power grid becomes more complex, you need more automation and intelligence. In the case of our power grid, you can think of AI as a kind of autopilot. Today, pilots only touch the controls during take-off and landing, or when something unexpected happens. During predictable parts of the flight, everything basically goes by itself. Currently, power system operation is still a purely manual process. Therefore, we want to develop AI that can support system operators in the way an autopilot does, so that operators will act as supervisors."
For the future Stefanov envisages a control room where operators no longer look at screens but wear VR glasses.
More susceptible to cyber attacks
Besides the energy transition, the increasing digitisation of the electricity grid also raises concerns. For instance, digitalisation makes the grid more susceptible to cyber attacks. Cybersecurity is therefore an increasingly important issue.
"In recent years, we have moved from analogue communication to new information and communication technologies. Even in substations, cabling has been replaced by digital communication in most cases," says Stefanov. "If just a few transmission lines are maliciously sabotaged, other lines will pick up the electricity flow, become overloaded and under certain stress conditions automatically disconnect. Such cyberattacks can cause disruptions that then turn into a chain reaction affecting the whole of Europe, as all power grids are interconnected."
Previous incidents show vulnerability
That cyber attacks on electricity grids are already a reality show various incidents. Consider a cyber attack on Ukrenergo on 17 December 2016. Twenty per cent of the Ukrainian power company's capacity was lost after a targeted attack on a distribution station north of the Ukrainian capital. The attack was carried out using malware that can locate and disconnect circuit breakers. This resulted in a widespread power outage that lasted more than an hour.
However, consider attacks on the Indian power grid. Since December, several attacks have reportedly been carried out on grid in Ladakh, a region in northern India. As recently as March, India announced the creation of a special team to protect India's power grid.
Other disruptions also examined
TU Delft's living lab not only focuses on the impact of cyber attacks on the electricity network. The researchers are also looking at other disruptions, ranging from broken transmission lines to short circuits.
Stefanov is technical director of the control room. He developed the research facility himself. "That we can simulate the whole ecosystem of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and use is unique," says the technical director. "Our control room is an innovation hub where industry and academia can meet."
Students and PhD students can experiment in the CRoF. Physical electricity network operators can share knowledge and gain new knowledge. Network operators like TenneT, distributors like Alliander and Stedin, and vendors like Siemens and General Electric also want to conduct research in the control room.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Photo: Pixabay / Steppinstars
