HPEM Vulnerability of Smart Grid Substation Secondary Systems

This paper presents the results of a test campaign with focus on identifying HPEM susceptibilities for eight different secondary systems used in smart grid substations as part of the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system. The devices were tested against conducted threats in a bulk current injection (BCI) setup and radiated threats inside a TEM waveguide. Testing multiple devices of each type from different manufacturers and generations is necessary to acquire a representative overview of typical HPEM (High Power Electromagnetics) susceptibility thresholds of such systems. The tests were performed at frequencies ranging from 10 MHz to 3400 MHz whereas the failure behaviour of the tested devices strongly depends on frequency, polarization of the electromagnetic (EM) field and device type.