Modern distribution feeders now carry high-rate telemetry from meters, pole-top sensors, and recloser controllers, but protection commands must still reach breakers within the 3 ms transfer-time limit (IEC 61850 GOOSE Type 1A P2/P3). Conventional cryptography overwhelms the modest processors and batteries inside these devices; thus, there is a need for lightweight alternatives. To this end, we evaluated eleven lighter alterna- tives—covering block, stream, and elliptic-curve designs - against practical criteria of security strength, execution time, circuit area, and energy use. Reported laboratory benchmarks indicate that the block ciphers SIMON and PRESENT fit comfortably into smart meters and basic sensors with almost no impact on battery life, while a 120 MHz mid-range microcontroller can run the authenticated cipher Ascon fast enough to secure gateway traffic without delaying protection frames. Published measurements indicate Ascon resists replay and adds only a small battery overhead. These results give distribution engineers a clear guide for selecting encryption that meets real-time protection deadlines while supporting the long-term sustainability and reliability of electrical power systems.
Lightweight cryptography, smart grid IoT security, IEC 61850 GOOSE protection, energy-efficient encryption, distribution-grid resilience
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