A security assessment scheme for interdependent cyber-physical power systems

A security assessment scheme for interdependent cyber-physical power systems is proposed. The focus of the scheme is to assess the impact of node failures in the communication network on the total power system. A contingency set is formed by failures of each node in the communication network, which is ranked according to the node importance. Two mechanisms to trigger cascading failures of the power network are considered including re-routing of power flow and hidden failures of protection following the initial random event. After the contingency set is enumerated, the N-1 security assessment for the interdependent cyber-physical power system is completed. The impact of each contingency is measured by the resulting load loss of the power system. Simulation results of New England 10-machine 39-bus test system demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.