Validation of ICT-based protection and control applications in electric power systems

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based power system applications increases continually which poses new engineering challenges regarding the development, validation and management of both - the applications and the intertwined infrastructures. In this paper the need for a joint analysis of power and ICT systems for evaluating smart grid applications is discussed and a systematic validation approach is proposed. After reviewing state of the art validation techniques, a newly developed Wide-Area Monitoring, Protection and Control (WAMPAC) system is introduced. Its extensive use of wide-area communication and the combination of centralized and decentralized decision making stress the complexity of such a cyber-physical system, where the interdependency between the power system and the ICT domains are challenging to validate. Deduced from these requirements, a validation concept is proposed that comprises (i) the usage of a comprehensive smart grid reference model, (ii) a systematic and objectively verifiable generation of scenarios, and (iii) a single and multi-domain validation process using analytical, simulative and experimental techniques. For the latter, a composition of analyses using co-simulation, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) simulations and an empirical test bed is outlined.