DOE and NREL seek new cybersecurity tech for renewable energy

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have announced a second round of applications for cybersecurity solutions to secure renewable energy assets.

The announcement comes under the Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator (CECA) programme, which aims to bring together experts, energy industry representatives and technology innovators to bring cybersecurity technologies and solutions to market as quickly as possible.

The CECA’s first cohort of contracts selected three cybersecurity companies with technologies yet to be proven in relation to energy assets in December 2022. The companies are now engaged in technical assessments of their technologies.

The second round of the CECA programme will seek up to five applicants with “solutions that actively identify all industrial control system assets connected to a utility’s infrastructure, both physically and virtually, to understand the totality of assets that need to be monitored and protected within the environment”, the DOE said.

The DOE and NREL have partnered with three US utilities – Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Duke Energy and Xcel Energy – which will all have access to successful applicants’ cybersecurity technologies once technical assessments are complete, with the opportunity to gain insights on cybersecurity threats, trends and solutions from the developers.

“As physical and virtual threats to our critical energy infrastructure continue to evolve, DOE is using all the tools at our disposal to lock down cybersecurity vulnerabilities of today and tomorrow,” said US secretary of energy Jennifer Granholm.

“By supporting new, innovative technologies, the CECA programme will help bring cutting-edge solutions to market more rapidly – ensuring our nation’s electric grid is secure and reliable as it transitions to 100% clean energy.”

With a rise in computerised operating technology and as renewable energy takes up more and more of global electricity generation and grids subsequently become less centralised, the risk of cybersecurity breaches grows. Disruptions and attacks from potential hackers could lead to power outages, high costs or penalties for operators and the potential theft of sensitive information.

PV Tech Premium published an in-depth discussion of the growing solar PV cybersecurity challenge last October.