Cyber-Physical Security of Renewable Energy Microgrids: A State-of-the-Art Review of Threats, Standards and Research Gaps for Sub-Sahara Africa

Renewable energy microgrids are critical particularly to rural electrification and energy- access in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where well over 600 million people lack reliable power (IEA, 2023). These cyber-physical systems integrate solar, wind, storage, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) control, making them vulnerable to both cyber and physical attacks. This review examines the current threat landscape, existing standards, and research gaps for securing renewable microgrids in Sub -Sahara Africa. We examined 61 studies from 2017-2025 and found that SSA microgrids face rather very unique risks like legacy devices, poor connectivity, insider threats, and limited incident response capacity. While standards like IEC 62443 and NIST CSF exist, adoption in SSA is still relatively low due to cost and skills gaps. We propose a context-aware security framework combining lightweight cyber defenses, physical hardening, and community governance. Future and prospective research need to prioritize low-cost intrusion detection, secure protocols for low-bandwidth links, and policy alignment with national energy strategies.