Evaluation of resilience of a distribution grid after addition of heat pumps and electric vehicles as home automated loads operating under multiple case scenarios for all households

The increasing integration of heat pumps (HP) and electric vehicles (EV) in Finland’s households as home automated loads may cause overloading in distribution grids. Furthermore, the inadequate cybersecurity of these automated loads might make already strained grid susceptible to coordinated load attacks. Hence, to analyse grid resilience under such scenarios, medium and low voltage network in the region of South Savo, Finland operated by distribution system operator (DSO) Suur-Savon Sähkö Group is tested. For each household in the network, heat pump consumption is modelled using two methods: HP-Model 1 and HP-Model 2; whereas the EV load is modelled for two charging powers: 1.84 kW and 11.1 kW. In total, 8 different cases are formulated for normal and post-hacking operation of these home automated loads. Then, for each case, existing customer load profiles are modified to test the effect on all service points, conductors and transformers throughout the network. It is found that heat pumps and EV (1.84kW) do not pose significant risk to grid capacity. However, EV (11.1 kW) causes some overloading and undervoltage issues for the grid in normal operation and deteriorates network health massively in post-hacking scenario.