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Smart Grid Communication

Electric distribution systems around the globe are undergoing a significant transformation to address global warming concerns and achieve ambitious decarbonization goals set by the governments. This transformation has resulted in the rapid installation of renewable energy resources, battery energy storage systems and electric vehicle charging stations. The integration of these assets poses various challenges to distribution systems such as thermal overloading, over-voltage and reverse power flow. In order to address these challenges, deployment of distribution management systems is imperative to achieve higher observability and real-time control of distribution systems.

Distribution management systems require secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective communication networks with wide area coverage and low latency. Utilities traditionally relied on leased telephone networks to exchange information between various assets in the distribution systems and distribution system operators. Nevertheless, leased phone networks have been gradually phased-out over the past years.

In this project, we are investigating the connectivity of distribution systems through different network architectures such as SDN-based MPLS core network and 5G wireless network. We are also investigating the use of Network Slicing for segregation of smart grid traffic through public service provider network for security, reliability and low latency. We have developed a co-simulator platform to investigate the flow of GOOSE messages through the communication network under variety of network scenarios, configurations, and security threat conditions. The second equally important objective is to implement and investigate the performance of new network delay and security management algorithms. The main approach of our co-simulator is to inject the GOOSE messages from Typhoon HIL into the network simulation model implemented in Omnet++. The main simulators that we integrate in our co-simulator are:

1. Typhoon HIL simulates power distribution system and generates GOOSE messages that traverse from a publisher to a subscriber unit. The publisher and subscriber units send and receive GOOSE message through their respective ethernet interfaces.

2. Omnet++ is a discrete event simulator for simulating a distributed system. The inet package in Omnet++ provides simulation framework and protocol modules to implement a communication network. 

Team
  • Huda Goehar
  • Deniz Cakiroglu
  • Mazin Alshereiqi
  • Arash Mahari
  • Behzad Sardoroud
  • Nikoo Alavi
Partner
  • Dr. Mohammadreza Arani
  • Dr. Amir Abir Jahromi

Selected Publications

  • D. Cakiroglu, H. Goehar, B. Sadroud, M. Jaseemuddin, M. Arani, A. Jahromi, A Co-simulation Platform for Wireless LTE Networks in Smart Distribution Systems, IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe (ISGT EUROPE), Croatia, October 2024.