Modeling Cascading Failures in Coupled Smart Grid Networks

The smart grid connects components of power systems and communication networks in an interdependent two-way system that delivers electricity to consumers and collects data that enables it to react to usage levels and interference from threats, such as cyber-attacks. In this paper, we propose a novel cyber-attack failure propagation model in smart grids. Our realistic failure propagation model addresses the system’s heterogeneity by assigning different roles to its components. We define rules for and interdependencies of failure propagation and propose a new approach to studying cascading failures. In addition, our graph model identifies the most-vulnerable nodes. The model implements power flow analysis to guarantee that all transmission lines work below capacity and remove lines exceeding capacity. The model also considers that control packets could encounter different delays regarding the communication network structure and investigates the impact of communication delay on the failure of power components. Our results establish that by considering both power and communication characteristics and interdependencies, cascading failures can be modeled more accurately. We show that when we run the power flow analysis, there are a negligible number of failed nodes, which means that our model accurately identifies system failures.