Quantum-key-distribution Framework Achieves 70% Enhanced SCADA System Security with 25% Key Inventory Prediction and 83% Dynamic Reconfiguration

Modern power grids face escalating cybersecurity threats, prompting researchers to investigate quantum solutions for securing critical infrastructure. Ziqing Zhu, working independently, proposes a novel framework for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems that integrates quantum key distribution with real-time control operations. This research moves beyond simply establishing secure communication channels and instead models the complete lifecycle of quantum keys, predicting their availability and allocating them strategically across the power grid. The team demonstrates a significant improvement in system performance, achieving a 25% increase in task success rates, a 70% reduction in frequency deviations, and an 83% improvement in key utilisation through a comprehensive co-simulation platform, paving the way for truly quantum-secure power grid control systems.

QKD Secures Adaptive Power Grid Communications

This research details a framework for securing power grid communications using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). It proposes a system that integrates QKD with the multi-timescale control processes vital for grid operation, enabling fair and adaptive key allocation between Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Distribution System Operators (DSOs). Scientists developed a co-simulation platform, algorithms for coordination, and conducted experiments demonstrating improvements in grid reliability and security, leveraging the inherent security of quantum communication to address vulnerabilities to cyberattacks. To coordinate limited quantum key resources, the team employed a Stackelberg game, a mathematical model representing strategic interaction, and developed the Leader-Follower Coordination Pruning (LD-CP) algorithm to efficiently solve this game, streamlining the coordination process and improving fairness and efficiency. Unlike previous applications focusing on simple communication links, this work integrates quantum key generation, predicts key consumption, and considers control latency within a unified model, allowing for key-aware reconfiguration of SCADA control chains adapting to security demands and real-time constraints. To solve this complex problem, the team developed a Level Decomposition-Complementarity Pruning algorithm, enabling efficient key allocation. To support reproducible evaluation and rigorous performance analysis, the team engineered an end-to-end co-simulation platform integrating realistic physical-layer disruptions using OpenQKD-Sim, the Q3P/IEC-104 protocol stack, and real-time control-chain monitoring through Grafana, allowing for detailed assessment of system-level performance. Unlike previous QKD applications focused solely on point-to-point communication, this research integrates quantum key generation, predicts key consumption, and considers control latency within a unified model, allowing for key-aware reconfiguration of SCADA control chains adapting to security demands and real-time resource constraints. To enable reproducible evaluation, scientists constructed an end-to-end co-simulation platform integrating realistic physical-layer disruptions via OpenQKD-Sim, the Q3P/IEC-104 protocol stack, and real-time control-chain monitoring through Grafana. Experiments conducted on the IEEE 39- and 118-bus systems demonstrate a significant 25% increase in task success rate, a substantial 70% reduction in peak frequency deviation, and improved key utilization to 83%. Addressing a critical gap in existing applications, the team integrated quantum key dynamics with the multi-timescale control processes essential for power system operations, enabling fair and adaptive allocation of quantum keys between transmission and distribution system operators through a Stackelberg game and the Level Decomposition-Complementarity Pruning (LD-CP) algorithm. Experimental results, conducted on standard power grid models, demonstrate significant improvements in system performance, increasing task success rates by 25%, reducing peak frequency deviations by 70%, and improving key utilization to 83% under dynamic link conditions. The team also developed a comprehensive co-simulation testbed, bridging quantum optics, network protocols, and power system control, to provide a platform for rigorous performance evaluation. Future work will focus on integrating trusted relay networks, developing cross-layer intrusion detection systems, and validating the approach using hardware-in-the-loop simulations with real-time digital simulators, further enhancing the resilience of critical infrastructure.