Towards more realistic co-simulation of cyber-physical energy distribution systems

TL;DR

The paper addresses the need for realistic, scalable co-simulation of cyber-physical energy distribution systems to study resilience against cyber threats and to validate active operational management concepts. It presents a modular co-simulation environment that couples a network emulation platform (Containernet) with a power-grid simulator, orchestrated by the mosaik framework, enabling both simulated and real components and digital-twin testing. Key contributions include demonstrating cyberattack replication via a SAM model and validating EMS-driven coordination of behind-the-meter flexibility within a lab setting, thereby supporting cybersecurity research and multi-use energy flexibility strategies. The work provides a practical pathway to develop countermeasures, test IDS capabilities, and assess cyber-resilience in realistic, lab-based SG scenarios, with implications for both utilities and researchers. Overall, the framework advances the ability to study and improve secure, flexible operation of future distribution grids under cyber-physical threats.

Abstract

The increased integration of information and communications technology at the distribution grid level offers broader opportunities for active operational management concepts. At the same time, requirements for resilience against internal and external threats to the power supply, such as outages or cyberattacks, are increasing. The emerging threat landscape needs to be investigated to ensure the security of supply of future distribution grids. This extended abstract presents a co-simulation environment to study communication infrastructures for the resilient operation of distribution grids. For this purpose, a communication network emulation and a power grid simulation are combined in a common modular environment. This will provide the basis for cybersecurity investigations and testing of new active operation management concepts for smart grids. Exemplary laboratory tests and attack replications will be used to demonstrate the diverse use cases of our co-simulation approach.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: Overview of the utilized co-simulation environment and its major components. Depending on the use case, the respective components can be modeled in different degrees of abstraction.
• Figure 2: Illustration of the simulated attack replication scenario performing an exemplary multi-stage attack sen2021approach: network scan (S1), RCE (S2), PE (S3), and data manipulation (S4).
• Figure 3: Exemplary results of operational management strategies in the SG Laboratory.hacker2021framework