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| Reference Number | NIA_UKPN0115 | |
| Title | Hydra | |
| Status | Started | |
| Energy Categories | Other Power and Storage Technologies (Electricity transmission and distribution) 100%; | |
| Research Types | Applied Research and Development 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Computer Science and Informatics) 50%; ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) 50%; |
|
| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Not Cross-cutting 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Project Contact UK Power Networks |
|
| Award Type | Network Innovation Allowance | |
| Funding Source | Ofgem | |
| Start Date | 01 October 2025 | |
| End Date | 30 April 2028 | |
| Duration | ENA months | |
| Total Grant Value | £4,535,345 | |
| Industrial Sectors | Power | |
| Region | London | |
| Programme | Network Innovation Allowance | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Project Contact , UK Power Networks |
| Web Site | https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/NIA_UKPN0115 |
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| Objectives | The project is exploring the design, development and deployment of an enhanced disaster recovery platform which can drastically reduce recovery times in the event of a failure. The project will undertake a technical method to deliver the project, based on the following framework:Hydra Detailed DesignThe project will begin by investigating the best approach for enhancing the security and recoverability. This will involve investigating a novel approach amongst DNOs, whereby a live, read-only copy of the system is maintained within an isolated remote environment, with independent maintenance procedures. It will also look at a new approach for server build provision amongst DNOs, which will introduce automation to prove ability of such technologies to drastically reduce the time to recovery of electricity network control systems.The output of this phase will be the creation of a detailed design for the platform.Hydra Solution Delivered to Test EnvironmentOnce the detailed design has been produced, the second phase will look to build out the design in a test environment. As this is a new approach for control system resilience, it is critical that the project ensure that the proposed solution operates as expected, and can scale to the volume of transactions that take place on the production network.Hydra TestingThis step will review testing ensuring that the results show that the capability has been successfully developed. Any required refinements will have been identified and integrated into the solution, and further testing undertaken to ensure that the platform meets the success criteria.Hydra Solution DeploymentUpon completion of the testing phase, sign-off will be obtained from the relevant business and solution owners before migrating the platform to business as usual The scope of the project will encompass the following defined areas:Resilience activities which contribute to the ability of DNO control systems to withstand attempts, by nefarious actors to disrupt operations. Also in scope are activities which enhance the ability to assist in protecting against complications from technology-based issues such as software update failures.Recovery Activities which accelerate the recovery of the technology components. It will encompass automation technologies that provide more rapid recovery to a previous system state than standard DNO recovery practicesRestoration Aspects around recovery of transaction state, focussing on the ability, after a server recovery, to roll forward to a point in time very close to when the issue occurred.occurred.The benefit to consumers is that such a system will mitigate against outages from cyberattacks or technical issues, meaning that they are less likely to have impactful consequences to customers. Where outages do occur, it is anticipated that recovery will be quicker so customers will experience less downtime.This scope has been defined to be effective within the following scenario boundaries:Ransomware attack (with or without Hydra environment compromised)System administrator mistakes (with or without Hydra environment compromised)Loss of communications on main systemFull loss of control systemActive Directory / dependent infrastructure issues in main systemTransactional lockup issues on main systemApplication hard limit breachOperating system hard limit breach The core objectives of the project are:To prove that a real-time, securely isolated hot standby disaster recovery solutions can scale effectively to replicate high availability (HA) clusters at production levels of transactionsTo develop a control system which is objectively less vulnerable to cyber threats and technical issuesTo deliver a platform evidencing that it can be recovered more quickly than is currently possible using standard DNO practices by deploying automationTo create and demonstrate the capability to quickly restore the system state to a known-good point in timeTo create and demonstrate the capacity to roll-forward and restore transactions to a time as close as possible to the time of failureTo prove that the supporting business processes defined by the project are effective | |
| Abstract | Hydra is developing an innovative disaster recovery platform to ensure rapid restoration of electricity distribution control systems following cyberattacks, system failures, or infrastructure loss. As we transition to Net Zero, the network will become more complex and digitally controlled to accommodate increasing volumes of low carbon technologies and flexible demand. Maintaining reliable system oversight and response capabilities becomes ever more critical.By maintaining a live, air-gapped, view-only replica of the Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), Hydra enables near-instant failover and recovery. Unlike existing backup and recovery systems that have redundant nodes, its architectural innovation, combining real-time data streaming, automated server builds, and transaction roll-forward capabilities, sets a new industry benchmark for operational resilience that is currently not in use by the electricity distribution sector today. | |
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| Added to Database | 24/04/26 | |
