Virtual Power Plant Management in Smart Grids with XMPP Based IEC 61850 Communication

Abstract

Communication plays a key role in the effective management of virtual power plants (VPPs). For effective and stable operation of VPPs, a reliable, secure, and standardized communication infrastructure is required. In the literature, efforts were made to develop this based on industry standards, such as the IEC 60870-5-104, OpenADR 2.0b and IEC 61850. Due to its global acceptance and strong object-oriented information models, IEC 61850 standard-based communication is preferred for smart grid operations, including VPPs. However, communication models based on IEC 61850 present cybersecurity and scalability challenges. To address this issue, this paper presents an eXtensible Message Presence Protocol (XMPP)-based IEC 61850 communication for VPPs. Firstly, a full mapping of IEC 61850 messages for VPP energy management is carried out. Secondly, XMPP-based single- and multiple-domain communications are demonstrated. Finally, a federation concept has been added to facilitate communication in multi-domain communication networks. These models show that a standard communication model can be implemented with IEC 61850 and XMPP, not only for VPPs but other wide-area communication implementations in smart grids. This not only facilitates plug-and-play (PnP) with easy component additions but secures smart grid communication against cyber-attacks.

A Review of IEC 62351 Security Mechanisms for IEC 61850 Message Exchanges

“…Furthermore, IEC 61850-7-420 communication based functions/applications for smart grids and microgrids have been extensively studied and reported; such as energy management [30], [31], active and reactive power control [4], [32], [33], automation [34]- [36], multiagent management [37]- [39], control and optimization [40], Electric Vehicle (EV)-Photovoltaic (PV) coordination [41]. Similarly, the IEC 61850-7-420 information models were used to develop communication framework for virtual power plant management [42], [43], battery energy storage system [44] as well as smart meters and solar home systems [5].…”

Blockchain and Demand Response: Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Energy Transactions Privacy

“…Trusted bidirectional communication between energy prosumers, DSO, (transmission system operator) TSO, etc. can be also developed using existing protocols such as OpenADR or IEC 61850 [ 20 ]. A DR framework that assures data security using a blockchain infrastructure, smart contracts, and decentralized applications (dApps) for securing Aggregators-to-Prosumers transactions in the DR context proposed in [ 21 ].…”

Artificial Intelligence Based Intrusion Detection System for IEC 61850 Sampled Values Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Faults

“…For instance, coordination of electric vehicles with renewable energy-based generators to mitigate their intermittency requires continuous message exchanges between these entities [3]. Alternatively, virtual power plant concept where different generation and storage devices act collectively to represent a much larger generation plant heavily relies on successful communication between these devices [4].…”