Cybersecurity for Resilient Energy Communities of the Future

*Vinnova D-no. 2023-02987 [1]

There are different ways that energy communities can be described. According to European Union, they are “an effective and cost-efficient way to meet citizens' needs and expectations regarding energy sources, services and local participation” [2]. More concrete, there may be physically close energy producers in a neighbourhood with a shared connection to the grid, or a virtual community over a larger distance that manage their production and consumption together. This project will develop new security methods for cloud-based energy systems and new collaboration models that take into account the possibility of the stakeholders’ contribution to cybersecurity, as well as the market conditions in the context of energy communities.

The project addresses the following questions:

• What challenges and enablers exists for new technologies with respect to energy communities?
• How can we model efficient collaborations regarding cybersecurity in an environment with many involved parties?
• How can we integrate new digital platforms with critical infrastructure?
• How can we adapt methods for threat- and risk assessment?
• How can we evaluate cybersecurity resistance in energy communities against cyber-attacks?

In this project, RISE continues the work from SEAS [3] and focuses on methods for threat analysis and risk assessment when both functional safety and cybersecurity must be considered. Challenges here are to identify risks that arise when IT and OT systems meet, how to communicate these to the involved parties, and how risk assessment methods can easily be aligned with existing standards and processes.

[1] Cybersecurity for Resilient Energy Communities of the Future | Vinnova 

[2] Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU

[3] Sustainable Energy with Adaptive Security | Vinnova