Bandwidth and Security Requirements for Smart Grid

With the evolution of smart grid and applications, power distribution networks need scalable, flexible, distributed and secure end-to-end communication. This work aims to highlight the necessary bandwidth that is needed to effectively monitor and communicate with all the secondary substations of Distribution Network Operators (DNOs). In order to determine the bandwidth requirements, the current and future applications in each secondary substation should be known. Two levels of security are employed - IPsec and TLS - to give flexibility and resilience. Different test scenarios and several setups were employed on a fully secured IP based Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) through an IEC 62870-05-104 protocol, aiming to understand the bandwidth cost of different security techniques. The analysis depicts an average of 2-3 fold increase in bandwidth if both IPsec and TLS are used be to secure the connected asset.