Exploring and Developing Resilience Training Scenarios for Security of Electricity Supply

The electric energy sector faces large challenges and needs for digital transformations. The introduction of intermittent renewable energy resources, increased demand, and new energy consumption patterns influence grid stability and security of supply. Moreover, the strained geopolitical situation implies new threats and digital vulnerabilities to a complex system comprising a mix of new and old technologies. Existing regimes, design, and operational principles (e.g., "N-1") are challenged by the urge to facilitate a higher utilization of the existing grid. A more risk-based approach is suggested to face these challenges. In other sectors, the disappointments and shortcomings of anticipation-based risk management have incited a strong interest in resilience approaches. The successful adoption of methods for enhancing the cyber-resilience of the electric energy sector requires that the approaches are adopted to its unique characteristics. However, cyber resilience is not confined to cyber security but includes, from a sociotechnical perspective, countering of digital vulnerabilities in the context of security of supply. Moreover, we see resilience as an adaptive capacity both residing in normal operation and invoked at boundary conditions. Resilience is thus a process and practice, not only observable outcomes. Hence, resilience is an inherent ability that manifests itself at boundaries and margins of operation. These boundaries are not static but influenced by past actions and future strategies. This paper aims to enable distribution system operators (DSOs) to understand and benefit from their adaptive history, grasp their precariously vulnerable present, and envisage their resilient future. The primary method is training on scenarios that clarify boundary conditions for DSOs and foster inherent resilience, supported by a proper learning and strategizing environment using the Training for Operational Resilience Capabilities framework. This paper gives an example of such a scenario.

Keywords: Sociotechnical cyber resilience, Adaptive capacity, Security of electricity supply, Resilience training, Training scenarios.