Demand Response Management via Real-Time Pricing for Microgrid with Electric Vehicles under Cyber-Attack
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The topic of this paper is interesting to the readers, within the scope of the journal and it has to do with demand response management via real-time pricing for microgrid with electric vehicle under cyber attack. In this paper, the authors consider that the microgrid is composed of several energy providers (EPs) and multiple users, and each user is equipped with several electric vehicles (EVs). However, prior its publication changes must be done.
1. The use of English must be improved. The paper includes several grammatical and syntax errors.
2. Keywords should be placed in alphabetical order.
3.The Introduction must be revised. The authors must present the general research area to unfamiliar readers and at most present the current state-of-the-art in order to show the contribution/novelty of their work. Authors must describe/analyse more the current mentioned references and must include many more related references, such as the following:
· Fotis, G. et al. Risks in the European Transmission System and a Novel Restoration Strategy for a Power System after a Major Blackout. Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010083
· Vita, V. et al. New Restoration Strategy in Microgrids after a Blackout with Priority in Critical Loads. Sustainability 2023, 15, 1974. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031974
· Zafeiropoulou M. et al. Forecasting Transmission and Distribution System Flexibility Needs for Severe Weather Condition Resilience and Outage Management. Applied Sciences, Vol. 12, No. 14, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12147334
4. Please discuss the prior research gaps with respect to the drawbacks that drove you to conduct this study. Point out how you have contributed to closing this research gap.
5. Please redraw Figure 1 (without equations) adding additional information for the better presentation to the readers.
6.Please in section 6.1 add more case studies. This will make your work more solid.
7. In Figures separate the magnitude and its metric unit using brackets. e.g in Figure 4 Time slot [h], Total Power [kWh]. Also, be careful on the units (e.g. it is kWh not kWH or $ not Dollar)
8. A separate discussion section must be added.
9. Conclusions must summarize the work presented within the paper.
10. An abbreviation list (and the parameters that are included in the equation) at the end of the paper must be added.
My major concern for the concept of this paper is the following. During a cyber-attack or any major disturbance in any power system the major priority is to recover the system and provide frequency and voltage stability. It is known that in any emergency such as this the market energy is low priority. Therefore, the authors have to analytically answer the 3 following questions: 1) In the methodology please clearly show how it takes into consideration the frequency control (energy load equals to energy production), 2) How the market is possible to work in an emergency situation where a cyber-attack can lead to a blackout and 3) Is it possible the proposed methodology to be implemented in an Automatic Generation control (AGC) program (e.g. Siemens)?
Author Response
Dear Editor and Reviewers:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments and instructive suggestions. We have studied reviewers’ comments thoroughly and revised the manuscript according to all the issues proposed by the reviewers. The detailed responses are listed as follows.
-Reviewer 1
The topic of this paper is interesting to the readers, within the scope of the journal and it has to do with demand response management via real-time pricing for microgrid with electric vehicle under cyber attack. In this paper, the authors consider that the microgrid is composed of several energy providers (EPs) and multiple users, and each user is equipped with several electric vehicles (EVs). However, prior its publication changes must be done.
Q.1. The use of English must be improved. The paper includes several grammatical and syntax errors.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your advice. We have thoroughly reviewed the whole article and corrected several grammatical and syntax errors.
Q.2. Keywords should be placed in alphabetical order.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your advice. We have replaced the keywords in alphabetical order.
Q.3. The Introduction must be revised. The authors must present the general research area to unfamiliar readers and at most present the current state-of-the-art in order to show the contribution/novelty of their work. Authors must describe/analyse more the current mentioned references and must include many more related references, such as the following:
- Fotis, G. et al. Risks in the European Transmission System and a Novel Restoration Strategy for a Power System after a Major Blackout. Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010083
- Vita, V. et al. New Restoration Strategy in Microgrids after a Blackout with Priority in Critical Loads. Sustainability 2023, 15, 1974. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031974
- Zafeiropoulou M. et al. Forecasting Transmission and Distribution System Flexibility Needs for Severe Weather Condition Resilience and Outage Management. Applied Sciences, Vol. 12, No. 14, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12147334
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have revised the introduction. Be sure to introduce unfamiliar readers to general areas of research, we present the latest technology, and highlight the novelty of their work. At the same time, more references are cited, including those you mentioned.
Q.4. Please discuss the prior research gaps with respect to the drawbacks that drove you to conduct this study. Point out how you have contributed to closing this research gap.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have added table 1 to the article to compare the references mentioned. The work whether done or not in these references is highlighted, and the table makes our work more specific.
Q.5. Please redraw Figure 1 (without equations) adding additional information for the better presentation to the readers.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have redrew Figure 1 to remove redundant equations and try to make Figure 1 more visual and easier for readers to understand.
Q.6. Please in section 6.1 add more case studies. This will make your work more solid.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have given the real-time electricity price at each time slot of the day, the optimal electricity consumption of EVs, the comparison graph of total electricity production and consumption, and the social welfare maximum value at each time slot in section 6.1. Furthermore, we have enhanced the analysis of the graph to ensure that more information was provided.
Q.7. In Figures separate the magnitude and its metric unit using brackets. e.g in Figure 4 Time slot [h], Total Power [kWh]. Also, be careful on the units (e.g. it is kWh not kWH or $ not Dollar)
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have corrected all the comments in the diagram one by one to make sure the units were correct and the format was uniform.
Q.8. A separate discussion section must be added.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. The discussion and analysis part of this paper is mainly focused on the section of 6 (simulation results) part. After the simulation results are given, the graphics are analyzed, the conclusions are given, and the results are discussed in depth. We have strengthened the discussion details.
Q.9. Conclusions must summarize the work presented within the paper.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have carefully supplemented the conclusion to ensure that the content of the full paper and simulation results can be summarized.
Q.10. An abbreviation list (and the parameters that are included in the equation) at the end of the paper must be added.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have added a nomenclature which contains abbreviations, sets and indices and parameters that are included in the equations.
My major concern for the concept of this paper is the following. During a cyber-attack or any major disturbance in any power system the major priority is to recover the system and provide frequency and voltage stability. It is known that in any emergency such as this the market energy is low priority. Therefore, the authors have to analytically answer the 3 following questions: 1) In the methodology please clearly show how it takes into consideration the frequency control (energy load equals to energy production), 2) How the market is possible to work in an emergency situation where a cyber-attack can lead to a blackout and 3) Is it possible the proposed methodology to be implemented in an Automatic Generation control (AGC) program (e.g. Siemens)?
Answer: Thank you ! We considers the three questions you mentioned as follows: 1) Every user equipped with a smart meter. The smart meter can calculate the parameters in the utility function of EVs according to formula (30), and identify EVs under cyber attack according to whether formula (30) is satisfied. We have added the description of this part in the article. 2) We have refined the description and effect of the cyber attack. The cyber attack mentioned in this paper refers to the attack on the data by using the loopholes and security defects in the network. If the electricity consumption data exceeds the actual data, the EPs will provide more electricity and increase the production cost; if the electricity consumption data is lower than the actual data, the actual total electricity production will be lower than the total electricity consumption, then, there will be the possibility of power failure. In either case, huge cost losses will be caused. We have supplemented the solution of EVs under cyber attack in Section 2.5 and after formula (30). Every user equipped with a smart meter. Once the EVs under cyber attack are identified, the smart meters of users should cut off the connection. 3) It is feasible to implement the proposed methodology in the Automatic Generation Control (AGC) program. In this paper, smart meters can identify EVs under cyber attack by exchanging information. I think it can be realized by embedding the EV’s utility function in the AGC program and running according to the algorithm given in this paper.
Reviewer 2 Report
The concept and theme of the work are undoubtedly cultivating and worthy of investigation, But unfortunately the methodology and implementation is equally poor in its current form.
1. The manuscript in its current form is mostly written with a theoretical approach.
2. The methodology part is not clear and hardly connected to the work.
3. Incorporate a robust tabular comparison of the proposed analysis/study describing the Demand response management via real-time pricing for a microgrid with the electric vehicles under cyber attack with other state-of-the-art studies/analyses (on relevant parameters of current interest) recently published in high-impact journals (not older than 2017) in the domain.
4. Based on the tabular comparison, please mention (point-wise in bullets) the previous drawback/research gaps (as you already mentioned) that motivated you to pursue this study.
5. Then Highlight your contribution (Point-wise) to addressing the research gap (As you already incorporated).
6. The Result section is very poor from a journal perspective; Kindly Strengthen the result section by Incorporating some more test cases of interest supported by relevant graphics and followed by numeric analysis in support of the test cases. In the current form, this doesn’t justify the work properly.
Author Response
Dear Editor and Reviewers:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments and instructive suggestions. We have studied reviewers’ comments thoroughly and revised the manuscript according to all the issues proposed by the reviewers. The detailed responses are listed as follows.
The concept and theme of the work are undoubtedly cultivating and worthy of investigation, But unfortunately the methodology and implementation is equally poor in its current form.
Q.1. The manuscript in its current form is mostly written with a theoretical approach.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have added some verbal descriptions in an attempt to make our paper clearer and easier to understand. First, we have added table 1 to the article to compare the references mentioned. Second, we have redrew Figure 1 to remove redundant equations and try to make Figure 1 more visual. At last, we have enriched the conclusions to ensure that the work in the paper can be better condensed.
Q.2. The methodology part is not clear and hardly connected to the work.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have added a nomenclature which contains abbreviations, sets and indices and parameters that are included in the equations. At the same time, more descriptive language is added to ensure that the methods we mentioned are logical and accurate.
Q.3. Incorporate a robust tabular comparison of the proposed analysis/study describing the Demand response management via real-time pricing for a microgrid with the electric vehicles under cyber attack with other state-of-the-art studies/analyses (on relevant parameters of current interest) recently published in high-impact journals (not older than 2017) in the domain.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have added the latest research literature in Introduction section and marked the contributions in the literature in tabular form.
Q.4. Based on the tabular comparison, please mention (point-wise in bullets) the previous drawback/research gaps (as you already mentioned) that motivated you to pursue this study.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have added table 1 to the article to compare the references mentioned. The work whether done or not in these references is highlighted, and the table makes our work more specific.
Q.5. Then Highlight your contribution (Point-wise) to addressing the research gap (As you already incorporated).
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have highlighted our contribution (Point-wise) to address the research gap.
Q.6. The Result section is very poor from a journal perspective; Kindly Strengthen the result section by Incorporating some more test cases of interest supported by relevant graphics and followed by numeric analysis in support of the test cases. In the current form, this doesn’t justify the work properly.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have carefully supplemented the conclusion to ensure that the content of the full paper and simulation results can be summarized.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This paper focus on the initiative of users to participate in power grid operation us the key factor to realize the optimal allocation of power. It shows that the mechanisms of identification and proceessing the EVs under cyber attack.
The reviewer strongly recommends that this work would be published in a journal after minor revisions.
However, the following comments should be paid attention to improve the quality of the paper:
1. In chapter 2, the definition of cyber attack is not clear and it does not contain the meaning relating to information security. It is necessary to describe the effect by misbehaving PEVs.
2. From equation (31), the effects of cyber attack should be defined with mathematical expression and specification in detail. It gives only the comparison of power data rate.
3. Figure 1 should be depict the process or procedure(algorithm) of data and information in detail.
4, To overcome the cyber attack, it is required resilient distributed protocol. It should be presented exact consideration and protocol or algorithm.
Author Response
Dear Editor and Reviewers:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments and instructive suggestions. We have studied reviewers’ comments thoroughly and revised the manuscript according to all the issues proposed by the reviewers. The detailed responses are listed as follows.
This paper focus on the initiative of users to participate in power grid operation us the key factor to realize the optimal allocation of power. It shows that the mechanisms of identification and proceessing the EVs under cyber attack. The reviewer strongly recommends that this work would be published in a journal after minor revisions. However, the following comments should be paid attention to improve the quality of the paper:
Q.1. In chapter 2, the definition of cyber attack is not clear and it does not contain the meaning relating to information security. It is necessary to describe the effect by misbehaving PEVs.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have refined the description and effect of the cyber attack. The cyber attack mentioned in this paper refers to the attack on the data by using the loopholes and security defects in the network. If the electricity consumption data exceeds the actual data, the EPs will provide more electricity and increase the production cost; if the electricity consumption data is lower than the actual data, the actual total electricity production will be lower than the total electricity consumption, then, there will be the possibility of power failure. In either case, huge cost losses will be caused.
Q.2. From equation (31), the effects of cyber attack should be defined with mathematical expression and specification in detail. It gives only the comparison of power data rate.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have redescribed the identification process of EVs under cyber attack, trying to illustrate formula (30). Here, it should be noted that formula (31) is repeated with formula (30), so it is merged and the identification process is described as clearly as possible.
Q.3. Figure 1 should be depict the process or procedure(algorithm) of data and information in detail.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have redrew Figure 1 to remove redundant equations and try to make Figure 1 more visual and easier for readers to understand.
Q.4. To overcome the cyber attack, it is required resilient distributed protocol. It should be presented exact consideration and protocol or algorithm.
Answer: Yes, thank you very much for your valuable advice. We have supplemented the solution of EVs under cyber attack in Section 2.5 and after formula (30). Once the EVs under cyber attack are identified, the smart meters of users should cut off the connection.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors have revised the manuscript according to my review. In my opinionthe paper can be published in its current form.
Reviewer 2 Report
Authors have professionally addressed the Reviewers comments. The manuscript now touches the journal standards and may be accepted in its current form.
