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Cybersecurity Solutions for Photovoltaic Systems, Wind Energy Sites, and Electric Vehicle Chargers

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A1: Smart Grids and Microgrids".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2022) | Viewed by 32898

Special Issue Editors

Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, USA
Interests: resilient control systems; resilience metrics; cyber-physical anomaly detection; context-aware cyber-physical visualization for energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA
Interests: power systems; distributed energy resources; cybersecurity; interoperability; renewable energy
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver W Pkwy, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Interests: cybersecurity; communications; renewable energy; certification; distributed energy
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, USA
Interests: power systems; cybersecurity; energy automation; standardization; control systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cyber threats to energy infrastructure are increasing, as are the capabilities of the adversaries to compromise critical systems. While the evolution of the power grid from centralized to distributed generation lends to resilience from natural disasters, a security by design for renewable generators is required to achieve a comprehensive resilience to threats. As penetrations of interoperable photovoltaic, wind, and electric vehicle (EV) chargers increase, so does the size and complexity of the control networks associated with these technologies. This results in an expanding attack surface that exposes critical infrastructure in the power and transportation sectors to a range of adversary actions. It is essential that new research solutions be developed for these technology areas.

Therefore, please consider submitting to the Special Issue of Energies on “Cybersecurity Solutions for Photovoltaic Systems, Wind Energy Sites, and Electric Vehicle Chargers.” This issue is designed to showcase novel cybersecurity solutions for non-federated networks or hardware devices within the renewable energy and electric vehicle charging ecosystems. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, innovative communication architectures, trust mechanisms, public key infrastructure systems, situational awareness, data-in-flight technologies, access control, intrusion detection and anomaly detection systems, patching, device-level hardening, penetration testing, forensics, contingency operating modes, and restoration strategies. Researchers working on threat models, security metrics, supply chain, machine learning-based cybersecurity defenses, and cyberattack power system impacts are especially encouraged to submit manuscripts.

Dr. Craig Rieger
Mr. Jay Johnson
Mr. Danish Saleem
Mr. Paul Skare
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Cybersecurity
  • Photovoltaics
  • Electric Vehicle Charging
  • Wind Energy
  • Distributed Energy Resources
  • Power systems
  • Cyber resilience
  • Smart grid
  • Internet of things

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3055 KiB  
Article
Centralized and Decentralized Distributed Energy Resource Access Control Implementation Considerations
by Georgios Fragkos, Jay Johnson and Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou
Energies 2022, 15(17), 6375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15176375 - 01 Sep 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1932
Abstract
A global transition to power grids with high penetrations of renewable energy generation is being driven in part by rapid installations of distributed energy resources (DER). New DER equipment includes standardized IEEE 1547-2018 communication interfaces and proprietary communications capabilities. Interoperable DER provides new [...] Read more.
A global transition to power grids with high penetrations of renewable energy generation is being driven in part by rapid installations of distributed energy resources (DER). New DER equipment includes standardized IEEE 1547-2018 communication interfaces and proprietary communications capabilities. Interoperable DER provides new monitoring and control capabilities. The existence of multiple entities with different roles and responsibilities within the DER ecosystem makes the Access Control (AC) mechanism necessary. In this paper, we introduce and compare two novel architectures, which provide a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) service to the DER ecosystem’s entities. Selecting an appropriate RBAC technology is important for the RBAC administrator and users who request DER access authorization. The first architecture is centralized, based on the OpenLDAP, an open source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). The second approach is decentralized, based on a private Ethereum blockchain test network, where the RBAC model is stored and efficiently retrieved via the utilization of a single Smart Contract. We have implemented two end-to-end Proofs-of-Concept (PoC), respectively, to offer the RBAC service to the DER entities as web applications. Finally, an evaluation of the two approaches is presented, highlighting the key speed, cost, usability, and security features. Full article
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20 pages, 4916 KiB  
Article
Toward Quantum Secured Distributed Energy Resources: Adoption of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD)
by Jongmin Ahn, Hee-Yong Kwon, Bohyun Ahn, Kyuchan Park, Taesic Kim, Mun-Kyu Lee, Jinsan Kim and Jaehak Chung
Energies 2022, 15(3), 714; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15030714 - 19 Jan 2022
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 4335
Abstract
Quantum computing is a game-changing technology that affects modern cryptography and security systems including distributed energy resources (DERs) systems. Since the new quantum era is coming soon in 5–10 years, it is crucial to prepare and develop quantum-safe DER systems. This paper provides [...] Read more.
Quantum computing is a game-changing technology that affects modern cryptography and security systems including distributed energy resources (DERs) systems. Since the new quantum era is coming soon in 5–10 years, it is crucial to prepare and develop quantum-safe DER systems. This paper provides a comprehensive review of vulnerabilities caused by quantum computing attacks, potential defense strategies, and remaining challenges for DER networks. First, new security vulnerabilities and attack models of the cyber-physical DER systems caused by quantum computing attacks are explored. Moreover, this paper introduces potential quantum attack defense strategies including Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), which can be applied to DER networks and evaluates defense strategies. Finally, remaining research opportunities and challenges for next-generation quantum-safe DER are discussed. Full article
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Review

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26 pages, 789 KiB  
Review
Review of Electric Vehicle Charger Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities, Potential Impacts, and Defenses
by Jay Johnson, Timothy Berg, Benjamin Anderson and Brian Wright
Energies 2022, 15(11), 3931; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15113931 - 26 May 2022
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 25502
Abstract
Worldwide growth in electric vehicle use is prompting new installations of private and public electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). EVSE devices support the electrification of the transportation industry but also represent a linchpin for power systems and transportation infrastructures. Cybersecurity researchers have recently [...] Read more.
Worldwide growth in electric vehicle use is prompting new installations of private and public electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). EVSE devices support the electrification of the transportation industry but also represent a linchpin for power systems and transportation infrastructures. Cybersecurity researchers have recently identified several vulnerabilities that exist in EVSE devices, communications to electric vehicles (EVs), and upstream services, such as EVSE vendor cloud services, third party systems, and grid operators. The potential impact of attacks on these systems stretches from localized, relatively minor effects to long-term national disruptions. Fortunately, there is a strong and expanding collection of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) cybersecurity best practices that may be applied to the EVSE environment to secure this equipment. In this paper, we survey publicly disclosed EVSE vulnerabilities, the impact of EV charger cyberattacks, and proposed security protections for EV charging technologies. Full article
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