"Researchers Use Blockchain to Increase Electric Grid Resiliency"

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers are using blockchain to validate communication between electric grid devices. The project is part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE)-funded ORNL-led Darknet initiative to secure the nation's electricity infrastructure by shifting communications to more secure methods. The risks of cyberattacks have increased with two-way communication between grid power electronics equipment and new edge devices, such as solar panels, electric car chargers, and intelligent home electronics. An ORNL research team is working to increase the resilience of the electric grid by providing a trust framework for communication among electrical devices. The team created a framework to detect unusual activity, such as data manipulation, spoofing, and unauthorized changes to device settings. These activities could trigger cascading power outages as protection devices trip breakers. This framework introduces a completely new capability for quickly responding to anomalies. In the long run, the framework could help in detecting unauthorized system changes, tracking down their source, and providing a more reliable failure analysis. The goal is to mitigate the impact of a cyberattack or equipment failure. The method employs tamper-resistant blockchain to spread configuration and operational data across multiple servers. The data and settings of the equipment are constantly validated against a statistical baseline of normal voltage, frequency, breaker status, and power quality. At regular intervals, equipment settings are collected and compared to the most recent good configuration saved in the blockchain, thus enabling quick identification of when and how settings were changed, whether the changes were authorized, and what caused them. The blockchain uses a cryptographic method known as hashing, which involves performing a mathematical computation on the bulk data to represent it as numbers in the blockchain. For each intelligent grid device, the blockchain processes thousands of transactions per second, validating the contents. The framework was demonstrated at DOE's Grid Research Integration and Deployment Center (GRID-C) at ORNL. To simulate the architecture of a real substation, the advanced protection lab employs commercial-grade hardware in a closed electrical loop. This provides a low-risk method of simulating cyberattacks or unintended misconfigurations, which can both be detected by the team's validation framework. Researchers are expanding the strategy to include communication between renewable energy sources and utilities. This article continues to discuss the trust network developed by the ORNL research team to increase the resilience of the electric grid against cyberattacks or equipment failures.

ORNL reports "Researchers Use Blockchain to Increase Electric Grid Resiliency"