Platforms for secure and resilient electric power system research testing and demonstration (P4REST) the project will develop "platforms for secure and resilient electric power system research testing…

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University received a $2.56 million Cooperative Agreement from the Department of Energy Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response under the Cybersecurity, Energy Security & Emergency Response (CESER) program (CFDA 81.008), awarded October 1, 2025, with completion targeted for September 30, 2028. The award funds development of the Platforms for Secure and Resilient Electric Power System Research Testing and Demonstration (P4REST), a scalable, flexible, and cost-effective cyber-physical platform designed to advance research capabilities in electric grid security and resilience.

The project focuses on two primary deliverables: (1) a federated simulation platform capable of modeling large-scale electric power grids with high penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) under various cyber and physical contingencies, and (2) integrated security and resiliency tools for modeling cyber-physical threats, conducting vulnerability assessments, supporting situational awareness, and enabling mitigation and response strategies against both anomalous communications and anomalous physical behaviors in large-scale power systems. NC A&T subcontracted with Intelligent NRG Solutions LLC to provide cyber-physical testbed development support, including electromagnetic transient modeling of power grids in PSCAD, solar and battery energy storage system modeling, large-scale transmission network modeling, and student training on inverter-based resource modeling and grid simulation methodologies.

Platforms for secure and resilient electric power system research testing and demonstration (P4REST) the project will develop "platforms for secure and resilient electric power system research testing and demonstration (P4REST)" as a scalable, flexible, and cost-effective cyber-physical platform (CPP) focusing on two key objectives, developing a federated simulation platform capable of simulating a large-scale electric power grid with high penetration of distributed energy resources (ders) under various cyber and physical contingencies and developing and integrating security and resiliency tools into the CPP for effectively modeling cyber-physical threats, vulnerability assessment, situational awareness, mitigation, and responses against both anomalous communications and anomalous physical behaviors in a large-scale power system