The Department of Energy’s (DoE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) today announced a $30 million funding opportunity to support the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of next generation tools to protect clean energy delivery infrastructure from cyberattacks.
The new initiative will ensure cybersecurity is integrated into the development of clean energy solutions, the DoE said in a Jan. 17 press release.
“The U.S. energy sector continues to face increasing cyber threats from nation-states and criminal actors,” said CESER Director Puesh Kumar. “This funding helps ensure that the next-generation clean energy infrastructure is built with cybersecurity in mind.”
These investments – made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – supports the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to build strong and secure energy infrastructure across the country. The new initiative will fund the research and development of new tools and technologies to detect and mitigate cyber threats to clean energy delivery infrastructure – including cloud infrastructure that underpins modernization – the department said.
“America’s energy delivery infrastructure is critical to our overall national and economic security,” said DoE Undersecretary for Infrastructure David Crane. “This funding will drive the development of next generation cyber technologies that keep our nation at the forefront of innovation, while protecting our energy infrastructure from increasing cyber threats. This work could not be more important or timely as our nation transitions to the clean energy economy.”
CESER said it anticipates making approximately 10 awards under this funding opportunity, not to exceed $3 million each. Topic areas include:
- Improving the ability to do forensic analysis of infected renewable energy field devices. Forensic analysis is critical for quickly identifying the source of a cyberattack and mitigating its impact;
- Identifying and mitigating cyber threats to inverter-based resources (IBR), including wind and solar generation technology, as well as related energy storage and battery assets. While IBRs play an important role in delivering clean energy to consumers, they have also become a new vector for cyberattacks. This RD&D effort will focus on applications and technologies to identify and mitigate these cyber vulnerabilities; and
- Strengthening the cybersecurity of virtual power plants (VPP) that offer a deeper integration of renewables and more affordable power. Cybersecurity RD&D is necessary to reduce the cyber-risk for VPP and to enable secure operation and management of these cloud-based systems.
Applications are due by March 18 at 5 p.m. EST.
Today’s funding opportunity announcement supports CESER’s ongoing work to develop next generation technologies to protect America’s clean energy infrastructure from increasing cyber threats. Early this month, the department announced $70 million in funding to support research into technologies designed to increase resilience and reduce risks to energy delivery infrastructure.
“In combination, these funding opportunities represent a significant, meaningful investment on the part of the Biden-Harris Administration in the security and resilience of America’s energy sector, both now and for the future, and in American innovation,” a CESER spokesperson said.
