A report released by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has concluded that 5G networks can support microgrids securely. The 5G Securely Energized and Resilient: Task 2 and 3 Progress Report provides results from U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) funded research where researchers created a 5G testbed to evaluate how the network performed with microgrids and distributed energy systems.

The testbed was built to model a military microgrid that used assets found at a real-world base that included battery storage systems, electric vehicle chargers, and solar arrays. Researchers then simulated events such as cyberattacks, high traffic loads, outages, controller crashes, and cell signal disruptions. Cybersecurity researchers design a platform to better understand the fundamental system architecture, limitations, and benefits of 5G systems supporting energy system requirements.

NREL’s report said that although the project was developed in the context of the DOD’s “FutureG Advanced Component Development & Prototypes,” which is intended to ensure communications system resilience in the context of military deployments, the results can also apply to communications for electrical grids in general.

The report listed four key takeaways:

• Takeaway 1: Setting up and implementing the 5G microgrid was ultimately successful despite facing several obstacles, including issues with the three-way handshake communication between the 5G user equipment and the distributed controller. Efforts to force traffic in a direction for which it was not designed failed, for example. Researchers resolved these issues and achieved a working 5G microgrid capable of executing the required test scenarios
• Takeaway 2: Latency testing using the 5G microgrid showed only moderate slowness/degradation over the base case (non-wireless). Performance was therefore deemed feasible for potential military use.
• Takeaway 3: 5G wireless communication over the microgrid was resilient to cyberattacks via a distributed controller when nodes were taken down. The system was able to recover successfully and continued to operate correctly, maintaining operations at the edge between the primary and local controller.
• Takeaway 4: During power disruption events, the FutureG distributed controller developed by this project was able to redistribute power and help maintain power to communications systems. Researchers concluded that the distributed controller can serve as a foundational technology to provide resilient communications during power disruptions.