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IEEE Electrification Magazine

A Quantum Leap in Microgrids Security: The Prospects of Quantum-Secure Microgrids

Zefan Tang, Peng Zhang, Walter O. Krawec

Published Mar 1, 2021• 33 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Communication has always played a vital role in microgrids to maintain reliable operations and achieve great benefits and will be even more critical with the increasing deployment of renewable energies, information technologies, and real-time automation and control systems. The existing classical cryptographic methods for securing microgrid communication, however, rely on mathematical assumptions, which are vulnerable to attacks from quantum computers. This article reviews the current status of developing quantum-secure microgrids, namely microgrids that are secure against attacks from quantum computers. We introduce some potential issues associated with applying existing quantum cryptography methods in the context of microgrids and provide future perspectives to make quantum security more practical in microgrids.

DOI
10.1109/mele.2020.3047167

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Communication has always played a vital role in microgrids to maintain reliable operations and achieve great benefits and will be even more critical with the increasing deployment of renewable energies, information technologies, and real-time automation and control systems. The existing classical cryptographic methods for securing microgrid communication, however, rely on mathematical assumptions, which are vulnerable to attacks from quantum computers. This article reviews the current status of developing quantum-secure microgrids, namely microgrids that are secure against attacks from quantum computers. We introduce some potential issues associated with applying existing quantum cryptography methods in the context of microgrids and provide future perspectives to make quantum security more practical in microgrids.
The growing demand for microgrids (MGs) and networked microgrids (NMGs) is driven by the prospects of improved reliability of energy supply and enhanced resilience of the energy grid in changing energy demands. The integration of data communications and industrial control systems has enabled NMGs to provide real-time monitoring and refined control for applications such as energy load balancing. These systems rely on current public-key cryptosystems to secure data communications based on certain computational hardness assumptions. However, the advent of quantum computing poses a significant threat to these cryptosystems because quantum algorithms, such as Shor’s algorithm, have demonstrated that quantum computers are capable of cracking these cryptosystems in practical time. To address this emerging challenge, quantum secure technologies such as postquantum cryptography and quantum key distribution are being explored as complementary approaches to achieve quantum-resilient security. This article reviews the ideas of quantum-secured NMGs (QS-NMGs) and identifies the relevant quantum-cryptographic technologies for QS-NMGs. The study will help scientists, engineers, and policymakers identify limitations of the current literature and discover future research avenues.
The recent advancement of smart grid systems, integrating cyber-physical systems with information and communication technologies enables real-time monitoring, control, and data transmission. However, these operations often inherently insecure communication infrastructures increasing exposure to cyber threats and data breaches. Consequently, cryptographic authenticated and key agreement protocols address cyber-attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities to protect data privacy and security in smart grid. Meanwhile, quantum computing progression is rapidly footprinted in real-world application thus quantum computing-based Grover's and Shor’s algorithm is capable for breaking classical cryptographic algorithms mathematical advances. Therefore, this review explores the adaptability of quantum computing, examines its impact on classical cryptography vulnerabilities, and highlights the role of quantum cryptography in enhancing security and scalability of smart grid cyber-physical systems. Accordingly, a comparative analysis was conducted to assess the security and performance of Rivest-Shamir Adleman, elliptic curve cryptography and digital signature algorithms against quantum cryptography for highlighting their respective strengths and limitations in quantum era context. This review provides a foundation of future researchers for integrate quantum technology and develop quantum-resilient solutions that overcome the constraints of classical cryptography.
Existing microgrid communication relies on classical public key systems, which are vulnerable to attacks from quantum computers. This paper uses quantum key distribution (QKD) to solve these quantum-era microgrid challenges. Specifically, this paper makes the following novel contributions: 1) it devises a novel QKD simulator capable of simulating QKD protocols; 2) it offers a QKD-based microgrid communication architecture for microgrids; 3) it shows how to build a quantum-secure microgrid testbed in an RTDS environment; 4) it develops a key pool sharing (KPS) strategy to improve the cyberattack resilience of the QKD-based microgrid; and 5) it analyzes the impacts of critical QKD parameters with the testbed. Test results provide insightful resources for building a quantum-secure microgrid.
The microgrid faces increasingly severe communication security challenges due to its open and highly interactive characteristics. However, the traditional trust architecture cannot cope with the dynamically changing identity authentication requirements, and data transmission based on classical encryption is vulnerable to attacks from quantum computers. Existing quantum-secure microgrid research typically requires both parties to possess full quantum capabilities, which limits its practicality in real-world deployments. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a semi-quantum secure commu nication framework for microgrids. Firstly, a semi-quantum authentication model based on zero-trust architecture is introduced to support dynamic and secure identity verification between the microgrid central controller (MGCC) and distributed energy resources (DERs). Secondly, a semi-quantum key distribution (SQKD) scheme is integrated, requiring only the MGCC to be fully quantum-capable, thereby reducing system complexity. Additionally, a dynamic key provisioning strategy is designed based on DERs' energy characteristics to improve resource efficiency and system security. Experimental results and analysis provide valuable insights for the design and deployment of semi quantum-enabled microgrid communication.
The classical key distribution systems used for data transmission in networked microgrids (NMGs) rely on mathematical assumptions, which however can be broken by attacks from quantum computers. This paper addresses this quantum-era challenge by using quantum key distribution (QKD). Specifically, the novelty of this paper includes 1) a QKD-enabled communication architecture it devises for NMGs, 2) a real-time QKD- enabled NMGs testbed it builds in an RTDS environment, and 3) a novel two-level key pool sharing (TLKPS) strategy it designs to improve the system resilience against cyberattacks. Test results validate the effectiveness of the presented strategy, and provide insightful resources for building quantum-secure NMGs.
To empower flexible and scalable operations, distributed control of multi-inverter microgrids, based on classical communication networks among distributed energy resources, has attracted considerable attention. Notwithstanding this, resilience of the current schemes on classical communication makes microgrids vulnerable to cyber attacks. Inspired by quantum properties of quantum bits, in this paper, we devise a novel synchronization mechanism. We extend the synchronization framework utilized in distributed control algorithms to networks of quantum systems. By employing the architecture of quantum network, security of the protocol can be enhanced. Test results on two representative ac and dc microgrids validate the efficacy and universality of the quantum distributed control.