Impact Analysis of Cyber-related Failures on Power System Reliability - A Review

Modern power grid is experiencing an increased influx of smart grid technologies in enhancing the reliability of its operations, by providing improved communication and real-time control capabilities. However, this makes the grid structure expand in dimensionality and complexity, making it vulnerable to cyber component failures as the physical infrastructure becomes more dependent on cyber-enabled functions. It is therefore important to study ways in which cyber systems may fail and how they impact the reliability of the power grid. This paper presents a review study on the nature of cyber-physical power system interdependencies and also highlights current research studies conducted in the areas of cyber-physical reliability and cyber-security. The overall goal of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the operations of cyber-physical power system infrastructure and provoke interest amongst members of the research community in addressing stated research gaps within this promising field.