Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems Cyber Range

NREL's Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) Cyber Range is a state-of-the-art cyber-physical modeling, simulation, and emulation platform used to study and strengthen the cybersecurity of current and future energy systems.

NREL's cyber-physical experimentation platform enables researchers and partners to assess real-world cyber threats and their impacts on current and future energy infrastructure at scale, so they can develop proven cybersecurity solutions for increasingly intelligent, autonomous, and interconnected grids.

Designed to match the complexity of modern energy systems, the cyber range emulates and visualizes everything from physics and communication networks to individual devices and regional grids, enabling evaluation of interdependencies, risks, and mitigations across multistakeholder environments.

As part of the ARIES platform, physical devices from laboratories across NREL's campus can be integrated into the cyber range's virtual environment, allowing for hardware-, controller-, and human-in-the-loop studies. From connected buildings, batteries, and utility distribution components in the Energy Systems Integration Facility to multi-megawatt wind turbines, solar arrays, cloud servers, and microgrid resources at NREL's Flatirons Campus, the capability offers unique and relevant resources to all users.

Capabilities

• Integrates distribution and transmission emulation, full-scale systems, and cyber-physical visualizations
  
  
• Leverages industry-validated, high-fidelity reference architectures for rapid experimentation and analysis
  
  
• Automates rapid deployment of grid-edge energy technologies at large scales
  
  
• Connects with real cloud service provider infrastructure
  
  
• Facilitates multi-domain analysis of compounding cyber and natural impacts
  
  
• Incorporates synthetic datasets for testing and evaluation, including artificial intelligence and machine learning applications

Applications

The cyber range enables research, development, and demonstration for many urgent needs, including:

Artificial Intelligence

Testing and validation of security with, of, and from artificial intelligence

Federated learning-based cybersecurity

Innovation and Evaluation

Emulation and analysis at scale

Cloud for energy applications

Risk quantification

System-Scale Planning

Threat-to-consequence analysis for hybrid hazards

Cybersecurity standards for distributed energy resources

Security controls and technology validation

Threat analysis

Work With Us

NREL partners with utilities, national labs, technology providers, and federal agencies to evaluate a variety of system security and resilience applications using the cyber range. Do you have a unique application that could benefit from the cyber range?

Learn more about how to work with us.

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