Cyber-Security Vulnerabilities of the Active Power Control Scheme in Large-Scale Wind-Integrated Power Systems

The vast integration of wind energy, particularly doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs), can harden the frequency control of modern power systems. This problem, which occurs due to the inertial decoupling of the generators from the grid, is often mitigated by wind farms active power controller (WFAPC) that enables the frequency response of wind turbines (WTs). The operation of this controller requires the deployment of communication and cyber layers in the wind farms (WFs), which consequently make them prone to cyber threats. In this paper, the vulnerabilities of WFAPC are identified, and the attack scenarios based on those vulnerabilities as well as their corresponding impacts on the frequency response have been investigated. Initially, the dynamic model of the wind-integrated power system is obtained and a WF's frequency response strategy has been selected. Then, the possible attack scenarios are modeled and discussed using simulations, which are performed in MAT-LAB/SIMULINK. The results demonstrated that even a simple cyber-attack against WFAPC can severely damage the stability of the grid and WF, and consequently result in equipment damage or blackout.