From: 2025-12-16 10:00 to 23:00
Place: Seminar Room M 3170-73 in the M-building, LTH
Contact: emma [dot] tegling [at] control [dot] lth [dot] se

Date & Time: December 16th, 10:00-11:00
Location: Seminar Room M 3170-73 in the M-building, LTH
Author: Alexandra Annedotter & Oscar Unosson
Title:  Coordinated Load Attacks on Modern Distribution Grids: Modeling and Simulation on a European Medium Voltage Grid with Droop Controlled DERs
Supervisor: Emma Tegling
Examiner:  Richard Pates

Abstract:

The power grid is a fundamental part of the infrastructure that supports modern society. Its importance continues to grow as electrification increases. Furthermore, the rise of renewable energy means that the operations and structure of power grids are changing. Adding to this complexity is the increasing number of smart devices that are vulnerable to cyberattacks from ill intended adversaries. This creates a vulnerability in which high power loads, such as electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps, may be remotely controlled and used to destabilize the grid.

In this MSc thesis, we created a mathematical model of a European medium voltage distribution grid using MATLAB and Simulink. The model implements droop controlled inverter dynamics and power loads.

Simulations studying the model’s response to coordinated load attacks were conducted, and aimed to study whether remotely controlled electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps can cause disturbances in the grid's voltage magnitude and frequency. Our results show that these attacks have the potential to cause large disturbances in the grid. However, the effectiveness of these attacks depends on several factors, including the type of distributed energy resources, the grid topology, and the strength and pattern of the attacks.