Smart grid is the intelligent power grid, in which Scheduling system is the most important part. In this paper, we will introduce a new schedule system based on contract net protocol improved scheduling efficiency. As one of the most important coordination mechanism, contract net protocol (CNP) has been extensively studied in many areas, and many other techniques can also be used to improve the quality of decision. The new CNP is based on trust mechanism, that makes the system more efficient scheduling. Experimental results show that the initiators with trust model almost steadily get the best participants no matter the environment is honest-dominated or dishonest-dominated. Even in the dishonest-dominated environment, this approach gets better results and is proved valuable.
Mihail Mihaylov, Sergio Jurado, NarcÃs Avellana, Kristof Van Moffaert · 6 authors
In this paper we introduce a new decentralized digital currency, called NRGcoin. Prosumers in the smart grid trade locally produced renewable energy using NRGcoins, the value of which is determined on an open currency exchange market. Similar to Bitcoins, this currency offers numerous advantages over fiat currency, but unlike Bitcoins it is generated by injecting energy into the grid, rather than spending energy on computational power. In addition, we propose a novel trading paradigm for buying and selling green energy in the smart grid. Our mechanism achieves demand response by providing incentives to prosumers to balance their production and consumption out of their own self-interest. We study the advantages of our proposed currency over traditional money and environmental instruments, and explore its benefits for all parties in the smart grid.
The traditional electrical grid is transitioning into the Smart Grid (SG) and the introduction of Smart Meter (SM) is a first stage towards Smart Grid. The SM can offer new functionalities such as remote reading, automatic event reporting and the possibility of remote switching by the Distribution System Operator (DSO). The DSO can send remote signal to the breaker of the SM to disconnect or connect customers. This could be used when customers are moving or do not have a contract. DSO is currently applying this technique regularly for customers but one by one which do not affect the grid's power quality remarkably. But this technique has never been applied for multiple customers at a time in a single neighborhood and the possible effect on the grid's power quality is still unknown. This condition is studied in this paper through test scenarios which have already been planned to test. This paper presents necessary steps of remote SM switching for a large number of customers. Power quality standards and steps for measuring power quality during the tests are outlined. Possible risks of the test as well as the probability of occurring risk and also the consequences of those risks are studied in this paper.
With the present residential electricity usage pattern, the power grid is not efficiently utilized. To avoid the need of grid expansion as a result of increasing power demand, a framework that works on behalf of both power utilities and consumers is needed. Such a framework consisting of a trustworthy adaptable smart home energy system and electricity contracts is presented. The system adapts energy usage in the home according to factors such as electricity prices, electricity contracts, and electricity usage control requests from the power utilities. The proposed contract defines pricing elements as well as the well-being of the consumer, comprising comfort and freedom to use electricity.
The famous new money Bitcoin is classified as a technical informational money (TIM). Besides introducing the idea of a TIM, a more extreme notion of informational money will be developed: exclusively informational money (EXIM). The informational coins (INCOs) of an EXIM can be in control of an agent but are not owned by any agent. INCOs of an EXIM cannot be stolen, but they can be lost, or thrown away. The difference between an EXIM and a TIM shows up when considering a user perspective on security matters. Security for an EXIM user is discussed in substantial detail, with the remarkable conclusion that computer security (security models, access control, user names, passwords, firewalls etc.) is not always essential for an EXIM, while the application of cryptography based information security is unavoidable for the use of an EXIM. Bitcoin seems to meet the criteria of an EXIM, but the assertion that "Bitcoin is an EXIM", might also be considered problematic. As a thought experiment we will contemplate Bitguilder, a hypothetical copy of Bitcoin that qualifies as an EXIM. A business ethics assessment of Bitcoin is made which reveals a number of worries. By combining Bitguilder with a so-called technical informational near-money (TINM) a dual money system, having two units with a fluctuating rate, may be obtained. It seems that a dual money can remedy some, but not all, of the ethical worries that arise when contemplating Bitcoin after hypothetically having become a dominant form of money. The contributions that Bitcoin's designers can potentially make to the evolution of EXIMs and TIMs is analyzed in terms of the update of the portfolio of money related natural kinds that comes with Bitcoin.
Liang Yu, Tao Jiang, Yang Cao, Shiyong Yang · 5 authors
In Internet Data Center (IDC) operations, some uncertainties are needed to be managed. Otherwise, IDC operators will be faced with a high operation risk. In existing work, electricity forward contract is adopted to minimize the IDC operation risk in smart grid environment under the assumption that workload and spot electricity price are independent. However, the above assumption is unreasonable in smart grid environment, resulting in the unsatisfactory performance of electricity forward contract. In this paper, a novel scheme is proposed to minimize the IDC operation risk in smart grid environment considering the correlation between workload and spot electricity price, based on a portfolio consisting of electricity forward contracts and electricity call (put) options in electricity derivative markets. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can significantly reduce the IDC operation risk. Compared with electricity forward contract, the proposed scheme has more stable and better performance.
Many electricity markets around the world treat electricity as a commodity - without qualitative distinctions. This view does not recognize the many different attributes and services that different generation technologies can provide. The Smart Grid platform will provide the technological conditions for even more service differentiation. In this paper, we discuss elements of an alternative view for organizing the markets in a Smart Grid scenario. The key element is the consideration of electricity as a multi-attribute product. The specification of these attributes will first require a clear understanding of the Social Planner's Problem (SPP), as defined in standard economics. Such understanding will facilitate the valuation of the resource attributes with respect to the fulfillment of societal objectives. The emphasis of the paper is investigating the SPP for resource allocation, getting resources appropriately sized in advance. The solution of this problem offers insight, and provides sensible guidelines for how many resources, and of which type, are required. Our viewpoints are illustrated via a detailed investigation of the system-wide value of operational flexibility, along with the market implications. A general discussion about the role of contracts to support multi-attribute products is also included.
Concepts for future energy networks envision the distribution of measurement and control infrastructures to the customers to allow for improved reactions to certain events in the energy grid and to ease the measurement process. Such a distribution of control functionalities requires a corresponding device on the customer side that performs or mediates between the energy grid requirements and the customer infrastructure. These Smart Energy Gateways (SEGs) are owned by the energy network operator and but enforce the contracts between network operator and customer for both parties. They can also support additional value-added services. Due to the different uses, SEGs will be exposed to more and other attacks than current end-user devices such as DSL or WLAN routers. The impact of attacks to SEGs is also a peril to the overall operation of the energy grid. This paper provides an approach to the reliable identification of SEGs based on already established industry standards, namely Trusted Computing and Trusted Network Connect.
Jeff Naruchitparames, Mehmet Hadi Gunes, Cansın Yaman Evrenosoglu
This paper focuses on deployment of smart meters in the power distribution systems to enhance the operation infrastructure. An important challenge in establishing a communication paradigm between the utilities and the customers is that customers are susceptible to privacy concerns. In this paper, we present a model to ensure the privacy and integrity of communicating parties within the smart grid by using smart meters as a gateway between intra- and inter-network communications. In particular, we utilize the smart meter as a firewall to manage incoming and outgoing traffic and mediate household devices based on the instructions from the electric utility. Moreover, third parties are introduced in our model such as service providers so that they can monitor and manage the contracted customers by using the existing communication infrastructure.
Smartmeters report the current electricity consumption over the internet back to their energy providers. Finely-sampled power consumption enables the energy provider to learn the habits of the customer's household in which the smart meter is installed. This paper presents a protocol which preserves customer privacy but also allows the detection of unregistered smart meters and prevents spamming and replay attacks. A trusted-third-party is not needed. This protocol, whose security proof relies on the strong RSA assumption and the random oracle model, is based on zero-knowledge techniques. The protocol has been implemented on different hardware platforms and benchmark results are given.
Open access
Cryptography and Data Security
Smart Grid Security and Resilience
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Abstract. Smart meters that track fine-grained electricity usage and implement sophisticated usage-based billing policies, e.g., based on timeof-use, are a key component of recent smart grid initiatives that aim to increase the electric grid’s efficiency. A key impediment to widespread smart meter deployment is that fine-grained usage data indirectly reveals detailed information about consumer behavior, such as when occupants are home, when they have guests or their eating and sleeping patterns. Recent research proposes cryptographic solutions that enable sophisticated billing policies without leaking information. However, prior research does not measure the performance constraints of real-world smart meters, which use cheap ultra-low-power microcontrollers to lower deployment costs. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of designing privacy-preserving smart meters using low-cost microcontrollers and provide a general methodology for estimating design costs. We show that it is feasible to produce certified meter readings for use in billing protocols relying on Zero-Knowledge Proofs with microcontrollers such as those inside currently deployed smart meters. Our prototype meter is capable of producing these readings every 10 seconds using a $3.30USD MSP430 microcontroller, while less powerful microcontrollers deployed in today’s smart meters are capable of producing readings every 28 seconds. In addition to our results, our goal is to provide smart meter designers with a general methodology for selecting an appropriate balance between platform performance, power consumption, and monetary cost that accommodates privacy-preserving billing protocols. 1
Traditional electricity meters are replaced by Smart Meters in customers' households. Smart Meters collects fine-grained utility consumption profiles from customers, which in turn enables the introduction of dynamic, time-of-use tariffs. However, the fine-grained usage data that is compiled in this process also allows to infer the inhabitant's personal schedules and habits. We propose a privacy-preserving protocol that enables billing with time-of-use tariffs without disclosing the actual consumption profile to the supplier. Our approach relies on a zero-knowledge proof based on Pedersen Commitments performed by a plug-in privacy component that is put into the communication link between Smart Meter and supplier's back-end system. We require no changes to the Smart Meter hardware and only small changes to the software of Smart Meter and back-end system. In this paper we describe the functional and privacy requirements, the specification and security proof of our solution and give a performance evaluation of a prototypical implementation.
Smart grid technologies in combination with the methodological foundation laid by the economic theory of Priority Service, enable the conversion of electric service reliability from a public good to a private good. Such a transformation is achieved by offering electricity service as a product line differentiated according to service reliability from which customers can self-select the level of reliability that fits their needs and pocketbook. This conceptual paradigm is illustrated through a specific proposal for a multilevel Emergency Interruptable Load Response Service (EILS) program at ERCOT.
Energy management systems/supervisory control and data acquisition (EMS/SCADA) systems are usually geographically distributed and have operational organizations. They are changing in accordance with the various and varying environments, and they should be flexible enough to adapt to those changes quickly. The paper proposes a new architecture called SCOPE (System Configuration of Power Control System) to realize flexible and reliable EMS/SCADA systems. SCOPE makes application programs independent of the operational organization and system configuration of the EMS/SCADA system, i.e., application programs are not influenced by changes in them. These properties make EMS/SCADA systems flexible and reliable, and also the development of EMS/SCADA systems becomes efficient and economical. Through developing and evaluating a SCOPE prototype system, it has been confirmed that the flexibility and maintainability of EMS/SCADA systems based on the SCOPE architecture has been improved.