Amidst wind energy’s explosive growth, a progression of malicious cyber threats is also occurring. Tremendous success in a combined nameplate generation of 90,000 MW, also means over 60,000 wind turbines could now be targeted. Wind turbines are ideal targets as they are remotely located with infrequent physical observation from plant operations crews. They can have outdated firmware, undocumented supply chain components, open networks, and weak authentication practices—and once inside, an adversary could potentially spread malicious intent throughout the windfarm network, ultimately traversing to other systems throughout the electrical infrastructure. The purpose of this panel is to bring together thought leaders to discuss the state-of-the-art in wind cybersecurity, communicate best practices, and gather input to inform prioritization of future research and development, industry led solutions, and multi-agency collaborations. The audience can provide feedback for future planning and panelists can provide insights on how to better improve cybersecurity.
This session is jointly organized by NREL/INL.