Cyber-security aspects of battery storage systems

Overview

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are a key energy storage component in various electrical and electronic systems such as mobile phones, electric vehicles and grid storage. A properly designed battery management system (BMS) is crucial to guarantee the safety, reliability, and optimal performance of the battery as well as to interconnect the battery systems with each other and external systems through communication channels. However, security threats of the Li-ion battery systems are often overlooked by BMS developers in the design phase. The cybersecurity of BMSs is an essential factor to consider as more battery systems require internet connectivity for functionality such as intelligent monitoring, control, and maintenance.

Research activities

The student needs to look into overall security vulnerabilities from potential cyber-attacks and defense strategies as well as explore the adoption of robust control methods and blockchain technology in BMSs, which will be used as a cyber security baseline reference to BMS developers.

Outcomes

The implementation of control methods and blockchain technology is promising to protect BMSs from malicious cyber-physical attacks and ensure the secure utilization of battery systems for numerous applications in cyber-physical environments.

Skills and experience

The student should have good knowledge of control systems and computer programming.

Keywords

• control systems
• battery storage
• blockchain
• battery modelling

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.