"Power On: New Testing Instrument"

Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, are working to strengthen power grids' resilience, stability, and cybersecurity. They may soon have a new tool for protecting energy supplies. This tool consists of large-scale digital simulators for cyber-physical energy systems. These simulations can be used to test processes and hardware that could protect the power grid against cyberattacks and natural disasters. Associate Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering Mohamed Ben-Idris and his collaborators recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to acquire a real-time digital simulator and set up a large-scale testbed. This new testbed's potential users include university researchers, students, and their industry partners. Faculty and students working on cyber-physical energy systems, which are intelligent systems that add new capabilities to energy systems through the integration of communication, computation, information, and control, will be able to test solutions for power-grid issues in a virtual environment prior to implementing them in the real world. Researchers will use the large-scale digital simulator for various studies, including developing components required for secure information exchange. This article continues to discuss the new testing tool, considered the only one of its kind in Nevada, that enables the expansion of research into power grids, including cybersecurity-related studies.

The University of Nevada, Reno reports "Power On: New Testing Instrument"