Technical risk synthesis and mitigation strategies of distributed energy resources integration with wireless sensor networks and internet of things – review

As electrical power operations tend to be smart grid with strong penetration of renewable energy resources, the evolution of operational technology brings on board another dimension of vulnerabilities with the participation of cyber-physical systems (CPSs). Thus, it becomes essential to perform technical risk assessment and CPS prognosis to envisage the integrity of the system's operational resilience. The communication network elements such as cyber signal transmission, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and the internet of things (IoTs) converges as a superhighway hub. This seeks to improve on network operations for efficient power delivery of distributed energy resources (DERs) integration grid. It then demands system configuration to be firewalled to avoid operational intrusions and malfunctions. The paper examines the technical threats involved in the paradigm of schemes and mitigation strategies. The areas of study are the vulnerabilities of the DERs integration with CPS, WSNs and IoTs layers. The risk aversion strategies of DERs integration with CPS are also discussed. The study aims to ascertain the intrusion level and responses of the integrated DERs grid in terms of power management. The paper's objective is to present an overview of current developments in the integrated cyber-power systems evolution and the implementation strategies with DERs.