BS3: Black Start Support System for Recovery from Cyber Attack

Black start operations -- the recovery from a catastrophic power outage, especially in the face of a cyber attack -- pose unique challenges to electric utilities and grid operators.  Information is incomplete, yet generation and transmission capacity must be brought on-line in ways that do not cause further damage.  Traditional grid analysis techniques are insufficient, being typically built for small perturbations from the steady-state.  ATC-NY and Bigwood Systems are teaming to build BS3, a black start support system for restoring service in the face of incomplete measurements, compromised systems (including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) servers and other Industrial Control System (ICS) components), and a complex set of feasible solutions to power flow problems.  BS3 builds upon ATC-NY’s Silverline hierarchical cyber security modeling tool, uniting it with Bigwood Systems’ state estimation engine and feasible control region engine.  Together, these will provide a graphical decision support tool for operators and decision makers, helping them determine how to best allocate resources and safely restore service.