Demo: SEQUIN: A Network Science and Physics-based Approach to Identify Sequential N-k Attacks in Electric Power Grids

Abstract

Electric grid infrastructures are critical systems that provide power to communities, but face issues of reliability and resilience due to extreme events, e.g., natural disasters and man-made attacks. In general, the performance of the grid depends on a few key com- ponents. However, efficiently identifying them can be challenging. This paper presents the SEQUIN toolkit for exploring the evolution of the grid under the sequential failure of components. Our tool uses the specification of an electric power grid network, and provides a dashboard interface on which domain experts and practitioners can explore hypothetical attacks and their impacts. The underlying logic in the SEQUIN tool relies on network science-based principles and physics-based optimization. We envision that this tool can be used to help reason about the impact of such failures for the grid.