IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - January/February 2022 - 35

PILLARS OF A SECURE AND
RESILIENT ALL-RENEWABLE
ENERGY GRID
The objective toward achieving a secure and
resilient 100% renewable energy grid requires
the development of multilayer control and system
methods, ranging from system stability controls
to secure codesign of hardware/software/
physical systems, that contribute toward a holistic
cyberphysical energy system (CPES) integrated
within smart cities.5 The technological
dimensions that will characterize those smart
cities are electricity grids and the information
and communication networks that can contribute
in the development of intelligent transportation
systems and support clean energy (e.g.,
electric vehicles, energy-efficient buildings, etc.).
Technological methods will revolve around decision
and cyberresilient mechanisms of critical
CPES and smart cities infrastructures dedicated
to advance research and developments on
renewable energy modeling and simulation. It is
necessary to develop a core innovation ecosystem
that enables crosscutting and convergent
technology, transformative policy, economic
and business models, and develop a future workforce
to meet the needs of our cities' future electric
grid. Such vision needs to be approached
under two main pillars: (1) develop and build a
secure and resilient electric grid able to use
100% renewable energy for electricity, heating/
cooling, and transportation and be immune to
natural disasters and cyberattacks; and (2)
ensure that the new technologies will be used
safely and effectively by operators, and that the
new system will be accepted and trusted by consumers
and citizens. Our daily lives and economy
will be secured, transformed, electrified,
and propelled to the next generation. The integration
and convergence of these two areas will
synergistically catalyze a safer, more reliable,
and more efficient community and society. The
two directions are described below.
Resilience Driven System Operation for Flexible
Recovery Under Extreme Events With
Renewable Assets.
Smart grids and microgrids operating in conjunction
with the bulk power system is an
accepted solution and robust in theory.6;7;8 There
January/February 2022
have been multiple smart grid projects, which
have enhanced one aspect or another to deal with
these extreme events-related challenges-yet
cohesive, comprehensive, general purpose platforms
that can be used to drive rapid industrywide
enablement of resiliency are nonexistent.
Recent surveys in the area clearly indicate the
necessity of effective resilience assessment and
enhancement methods.9;10 This direction needs
to assimilate advancements in grid modernization
technologies achieved through past efforts, modern
measurement devices, emerging energy storage
and RES integrations, forecasts, automation,
and intelligent algorithms, to create a modernization
blueprint for utilities seeking to transform traditional
operating architecture to secure and
resilient smart energy systems; such that the damage
causedby extreme events isminimized (either
cyberattacks,11;12 e.g., Ukraine electric grid attack
in 2015 and 2016, weather incidents, e.g., most of
the U.S. population live in disaster-prone areas:
75% of Floridians reside along the coastlines
that are routinely threatenedbymajor hurricanes,
or even human operation, e.g., 2010 BP oil
spill cost is estimated at over $60 billion and
unprecedented damage to the Gulf's natural
environment.13)
This transformation will enable resilientdriven
power system operation-including planning
to postevent restoration and recovery-
that would minimize the power outages resulting
in less economic losses, public security lapses,
and inconveniences. Smart grid frameworks and
algorithms need to be encompassed into smart
cities and engineered to leverage maturation of
microgrid technologies, asset management, and
increasing customer-ownership of viable, resiliency-enabling
energy resources. For example,
the smart and automated generation fleet continuity
of power supply to critical loads, during
and after extreme events, must be driven by
intelligent optimization algorithms based on
multidimensional data resources, probabilistic
asset availability forecasting, and resiliency-metrics-driven
restoration. A graphical illustration
of such approach is presented in Figure 2. The
goal from a technology development perspective
should be to create flexible and agile platforms
that can adapt to diversifying and expanding
threats to power system and smart cities
35
IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - January/February 2022

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