Protecting the U.S. Wind Energy Infrastructure

Wind energy cybersecurity concerns are compounded by a shortage of physical security. On the ground, wind turbines are so dispersed that they’re often easy to access and rarely monitored.

“Physical access to an individual wind turbine is very simple,” said Gentle. “But because there are so many types, vendors and configurations of turbines, and they’re often located in remote parts of the country, it’s hard to protect all of them in a cost-effective manner.”

Indeed, cybersecurity researchers have shown that individual turbines are vulnerable to physical and electronic attacks that could disable or damage turbines or an entire wind plant. Moreover, because wind turbines are connected electronically to central control systems, a wind turbine hacked on the ground or through the internet could serve as an access point for cybercriminals to attack large-scale electricity infrastructure.

Without adequate protection, malicious attacks could cause severe cascading failures that go beyond the cyber and physical operations of the wind plant to impact the reliability of the electric grid.

To secure the nation’s wind infrastructure, researchers at DOE’s national laboratories are undertaking five projects:

·  WETO’s Roadmap for Wind Cybersecurity

·  Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience, and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL)

·  Defense and Disaster Deployable Wind Turbine (D3T)

·  Hardening Wind Energy Systems from Cyber Threats

·  Deployable Advanced Renewable Power System (DARPS)

WETO’s Roadmap for Wind Cybersecurity lays out a vision and a strategy that DOE will use to guide future research and development investments in partnership with industry.

The road map outlines strategic priorities based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework. INL is responsible for developing the document in collaboration with researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).

The Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience, and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL) looks at securing distributed wind facilities, whether they’re for defense applications, rural communities, university campuses or hospitals. As the name suggests, the project has a focus on wind infrastructure control systems and wind generation in the context of microgrids and hybrid distributed energy systems. The project is a collaboration among INL, NREL, SNL and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

D3T, the Defense and Disaster Deployable Wind Turbine, is a collaboration among SNL, NREL and INL to provide deployable energy in a secure fashion for military applications and disaster relief. “We know wind turbines alone won’t be the solution,” Gentle said. “We need wind solar, storage and other sources of energy to work together in a secure and reliable way.”

Hardening Wind Energy Systems from Cyber Threats is a DOE WETO-funded project that aims to help secure wind energy technologies by enhancing and developing approaches to protect wind communication networks and construct intrusion detection systems.

These techniques will be shared broadly with the wind industry to harden communication systems to cyberattacks and detect when these attacks occur, facilitating informed response and recovery efforts. This project is in partnership with SNL and industry partners.

Deployable Advanced Renewable Power System (DARPS) is a deployable 31 kW wind/battery hybrid system capable of quick installation without needing additional equipment or existing infrastructure. DARPS will have microgrid capabilities so it can operate in grid-connected or isolated off-grid modes.

The project is specifically developed as a “proof of concept” prototype for tactical military applications such as forward operating bases. The project will be developed and tested by Bergey Windpower Company and Intergrid with input from INL, Cummins Power Systems, and Department of Defense end users.

The trick is meeting the needs of the unique and diverse customer sets, Gentle said. For instance, when looking for the best deployable wind turbine for a military base, production efficiency might take a back seat to durability and portability. On the other hand, production efficiency might be essential when providing cybersecurity for a large-scale wind farm.

Regardless, the result is working with industry to conduct R&D and implement technologies in a way that makes wind energy more secure.

“Renewable energy sources, including wind technology, are poised to alter the generation makeup of the electric grid in the future,” said Sarah Freeman, an industrial control system cybersecurity analyst at INL. “This shift, however, requires that these resources remain resilient in the face of cyberattacks. This work aims to ensure the reliability of wind generation.”