ABOUT US
The Power Engineering Laboratory (PEng Lab)at the National University of Singapore (NUS) conducts pioneering research at the intersection of power engineering, computational social science, and public policy. Our mission is to strengthen the resilience, security, and sustainability of critical energy infrastructures during an era of rapid transition toward renewable energy. We are distinguished by a "society-in-the-loop" approach, which integrates technical engineering breakthroughs with deep insights into community behaviour, social trust, and policy legitimacy. By recognising that modern power grids are complex socio-technical systems, we ensure that infrastructure governance remains responsive to societal priorities and inclusive of stakeholder input
Group gathering, 23 May 2023
LATEST NEWS
[21.11.2025] Research in Negative Pricing and Community Behaviour Published in Nature Energy
[03.09.2024] Extending on our PNAS Research in Identifying Mental Wellbeing in Working from Home
[31.07.2024] Latest Nature Communications Research on Social Factors Shaping Community Grids
[12.08.2022] Latest Scientific Reports Article Indicates Importance of Stability Buffer using Renewables
[09.06.2022] Latest Nature Communications Research on Flood Resilience of Public EV Chargers
[19.10.2021] Our Group was Interviewed by TODAY on Recent Singaporean Electricity Consumptions
[24.08.2021] Latest PNAS Research Indicates Singaporeans are Proactive to COVID-19 Progression
RESEARCH FOCUS
The transformation of global energy systems requires a fundamental rethinking of how we maintain stability, defend against malicious threats, and engage with the end-user. Our research portfolio addresses these challenges across three integrated domains, building a resilient, secure, and socially-responsive grid.
Physical Foundations and Sustainable Control: As traditional synchronous generators are phased out, the grid is transitioning toward a low-inertia system dominated by inverter-based resources (IBRs). Our work establishes the physical foundation for this future by developing advanced control strategies for grid-forming (GFM) inverters, specifically investigating power coupling and the complex interactions between rotational frames and control loops. We have also identified critical vulnerabilities in bulk power transmission, most notably the "Butterfly Effect" in High-Voltage Direct-Current (HVDC) systems. This research demonstrates how infinitesimally small perturbations in control settings or cyber-injections can trigger catastrophic power and voltage reversals. Supporting these efforts is our foundational work in high-fidelity energy modelling, which utilises out-of-equilibrium thermodynamics to improve the accuracy of battery management and solar cell simulations.
Cyber-Physical Resilience and Security: The digitisation of energy infrastructure has introduced sophisticated cyber vulnerabilities that threaten operational reliability. To counteract these threats, we have pioneered the concept of cyber-immunity, inspired by biological immune systems. By leveraging the grid's intrinsic features—such as topology and load distribution—we characterise "innate" immunity and establish "acquired" immunity through the strategic allocation of measurement protection across multi-area power systems. Our team develops robust detection and mitigation frameworks for stealthy False Data Injection (FDI), hijacking, and DDoS attacks that are designed to bypass conventional monitoring systems. Furthermore, we enhance grid intelligence through cloud-edge collaborative architectures for virtual power plants (VPPs) and strategic planning for wireless Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to guarantee grid observability even during communication failures.
Society-in-the-Loop Energy Analytics: The final frontier of our research recognises that the human element is both a critical vulnerability and a powerful resource for grid stability. We have pioneered studies on weaponised disinformation, revealing how social media campaigns can manipulate consumer behaviour to trigger city-scale blackouts. Conversely, we harness electricity data for social good, using smart meter streams to reveal proactive community responses to public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and to deduce nocturnal sleep patterns non-intrusively. Our work also shapes future markets by investigating the social acceptability of energy-as-a-service. We explore how negative pricing can be used to nudge consumption and balance supply surges, while developing fair mechanisms for energy rationing during prolonged crises to ensure social equity and community resilience.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Highlight 1: Uncovering the "Butterfly Effect" in Cyber-Physical Energy Backbones
We recently identified a catastrophic "butterfly effect" in High-Voltage Direct-Current (HVDC) systems, where infinitesimally small cyber-attacks can trigger sudden, large-scale power and voltage reversals. This research, published in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, reveals that the intrinsic nonlinearity of modern grid backbones makes them susceptible to an "infinitesimal-attack-high-impact" phenomenon. We demonstrated that perturbations as minor as ≤ 0.015 pu on a single measurement are sufficient to set off a cascading chain of control malfunctions. By establishing a first-of-its-kind hardware-in-the-loop HVDC cybersecurity testbed using a Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS), our team successfully validated these behaviors across both Voltage-Source (VSC) and Current-Source (CSC) converters. These findings underscore a critical vulnerability that could jeopardise interconnected AC grids, highlighting an urgent industrial need for advanced, resilient cyber-defense strategies.
Highlight 2: Pioneering "Society-in-the-Loop" Analytics for Human-Centric Grid Governance
Our lab has pioneered a "society-in-the-loop" framework that bridges power engineering with computational social science to address the human dimension of grid stability. We have demonstrated that weaponised disinformation campaigns on social media can manipulate mass consumer behaviour to trigger city-scale blackouts, identifying the human element as a primary infrastructure vulnerability. Conversely, we harness big data from smart meters to reveal community-scale insights, such as proactive behavioral responses to public health lockdowns and non-intrusive shifts in nocturnal sleep patterns. This research, featured in Nature Energy and Nature Communications, extends to the design of future energy markets, exploring how negative pricing can nudge residential demand and how fair energy rationing should be managed during prolonged crises to maintain social equity and public trust.
Group gathering, 30 August 2019