Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Malicious cyber attacks are a major concern for utilities and have cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars a year. PNNL researchers have developed multiple tools to help thwart these malicious activities, and among them is CFT. The software tool provides a way for utilities and their associated vendors to identify, detect, and respond to emerging cyber threats or vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure. How? CFT provides an easy-to-follow set of best practices, policies, and procedures to improve the cybersecurity postures of critical infrastructure. It works by identifying gaps or areas for improvement where the smartest investments can be made to bolster cybersecurity efforts.

A dynamic “train the trainer” tool called the Cybersecurity Training Game Simulator is built into CFT. The simulation game provides interactive training scenarios based on major cyber attacks that happened in the United States during the past decade. In each scenario, every aspect in the CFT—identification, protection, and response—is weighted and assigned a resource value. This way, cybersecurity experts can identify, in a hands-on way, potential solutions that would lead to the most cost-effective cybersecurity improvements. The game also includes training on systems and policy levels and brings together an organization’s experts in information technology and operational technology to make informed decisions.

The complete CFT framework or the standalone Cybersecurity Training Game Simulator are available for licensing. To learn more, visit booth #1964. You also can contact PNNL Commercialization Manager Peter Christensen at peter.christensen@pnnl.gov.

Remedial action schemes hold promise for ensuring grid reliability, but they only determine the worst operating conditions and may miss critical contingencies, result in under-utilization of assets, and cause the very reliability issues they seek to solve. TRAST has been tested in the Western Interconnect to validate and improve a manually created remedial action scheme based on realistic and near-real-time operational conditions, thus improving power grid reliability and grid asset utilization. The tool provides advanced statistical data analysis, customized dynamic simulation, a prediction based on machine learning, and a reliable validation strategy on multiple commercial platforms. The automatic/semi-automatic functionalities in TRAST could significantly simplify and shorten the remedial action scheme design and study process from end to end.

The use of DERs, such as rooftop photovoltaics, is expected to surge in the next 10 to 20 years. However, finding ways to model and control these resources is a challenge for current distribution and transmission systems. PNNL’s CReST-VCT (Coordinated Real-Time Sub-Transmission Voltage Control Tool) technology provides a new approach for coordinating volt/VAR reactive control between the transmission system and the distribution system to control DERs as a virtual power plant that provides various grid-support services.

The tool minimizes voltage deviations at load buses, losses, solar curtailment, demand-response use, and the mechanical act of switching shunt elements. The algorithm runs every five minutes and meets sub-transmission service requirements while satisfying all the constraints at the distribution side. The tool has been used to successfully simulate a major utility system, demonstrating the ability to provide voltage support by dispatching reactive power.

You can learn more about the technology at booth #1964. You also can contact PNNL Commercialization Manager Peter Christensen at peter.christensen@pnnl.gov.