Coordinated Load Attacks on Modern Distribution Grids: Modelling and Simulation on a European Medium Voltage Grid with Droop Controlled DERs
(2025)Department of Automatic Control
- Abstract
- The power grid is a fundamental part of the infrastructure that supports modern society, and its importance continues to grow as electrification increases. Furthermore, the rise of renewable energy is changing the operations and structure of power grids. Adding to this complexity is the increasing number of smart devices that are vulnerable to cyberattacks from ill intended adversaries. This creates an exposure in which high power loads, such as electric vehicle chargers and water heaters, may be remotely controlled and used to destabilise the grid.
In this MSc thesis, we developed a DAE system to model a European medium voltage distribution grid in MATLAB and Simulink. The model incorporates power loads and droop controlled inverter... (More) - The power grid is a fundamental part of the infrastructure that supports modern society, and its importance continues to grow as electrification increases. Furthermore, the rise of renewable energy is changing the operations and structure of power grids. Adding to this complexity is the increasing number of smart devices that are vulnerable to cyberattacks from ill intended adversaries. This creates an exposure in which high power loads, such as electric vehicle chargers and water heaters, may be remotely controlled and used to destabilise the grid.
In this MSc thesis, we developed a DAE system to model a European medium voltage distribution grid in MATLAB and Simulink. The model incorporates power loads and droop controlled inverter dynamics. Simulations were conducted to analyse the system’s response to coordinated load attacks, which involved controlling the power of electric vehicle chargers and water heaters to assess whether they could induce disturbances in the grid’s voltage magnitude and frequency.
These simulations were designed to represent worst case scenarios, assuming that a large number of devices had been compromised to disturb the grid. Our results indicate that such attacks can cause significant disturbances. However, their effectiveness depends on several factors, including the properties of the distributed energy resources, the grid topology, and the strength and pattern of the attacks, with the magnitude of power accessible to the attacker being the most significant. Furthermore, the simulations showed that meshed topologies and the inclusion of droop controlled DERs enhances a grid’s ability to withstand coordinated load attacks. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9221180
- author
- Annedotter, Alexandra and Unosson, Oscar
- supervisor
-
- Emma Tegling LU
- Richard Pates LU
- organization
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- report number
- TFRT-6304
- other publication id
- 0280-5316
- language
- English
- id
- 9221180
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-28 14:19:06
- date last changed
- 2026-01-28 14:19:06
@misc{9221180,
abstract = {{The power grid is a fundamental part of the infrastructure that supports modern society, and its importance continues to grow as electrification increases. Furthermore, the rise of renewable energy is changing the operations and structure of power grids. Adding to this complexity is the increasing number of smart devices that are vulnerable to cyberattacks from ill intended adversaries. This creates an exposure in which high power loads, such as electric vehicle chargers and water heaters, may be remotely controlled and used to destabilise the grid.
In this MSc thesis, we developed a DAE system to model a European medium voltage distribution grid in MATLAB and Simulink. The model incorporates power loads and droop controlled inverter dynamics. Simulations were conducted to analyse the system’s response to coordinated load attacks, which involved controlling the power of electric vehicle chargers and water heaters to assess whether they could induce disturbances in the grid’s voltage magnitude and frequency.
These simulations were designed to represent worst case scenarios, assuming that a large number of devices had been compromised to disturb the grid. Our results indicate that such attacks can cause significant disturbances. However, their effectiveness depends on several factors, including the properties of the distributed energy resources, the grid topology, and the strength and pattern of the attacks, with the magnitude of power accessible to the attacker being the most significant. Furthermore, the simulations showed that meshed topologies and the inclusion of droop controlled DERs enhances a grid’s ability to withstand coordinated load attacks.}},
author = {{Annedotter, Alexandra and Unosson, Oscar}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Coordinated Load Attacks on Modern Distribution Grids: Modelling and Simulation on a European Medium Voltage Grid with Droop Controlled DERs}},
year = {{2025}},
}