Spain’s authorities are asking small solar and wind power plants to provide information about their cyber defenses and recent security updates as Spain continues to investigate what triggered the massive blackout on April 28, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing owners of small renewable generation plants.
Investigations in Spain continue into what happened and why Spain’s transmission system was disconnected from the European grid midday on April 28, leaving the country, most of Portugal, and, for shorter periods of time, parts of France, without electricity for the rest of the day.
In the early hours following the massive outage, it appeared that a cyber attack could be ruled out.
Red Electrica, the Spanish grid operator, said on April 29 that it was not a cyber attack that caused the blackout. But it has not commented on a cause since then.
Authorities continue to investigate the cause but are not ruling out anything.
“As of today, we are not ruling out any possibilities. Everything remains on the table,” the Spanish Energy and Environment Ministry told FT.
Now the National Cybersecurity Institute, Incibe, is sending questions to small wind and solar power plants, asking them to answer questions such as have they detected anomalies or have they made updates prior to April 28, or whether it is possible to operate the plant remotely, according to FT’s sources.
Government officials have “concerns” about the resilience to cyber threats and the defense capabilities of small power generators, especially wind and solar plants, a source with knowledge of the matter told FT.
Executives at electricity firms and cyber security groups briefed by FT expressed doubts that a cyber attack has caused the blackout.
However, the ongoing investigation continues to fuel the debate about the growing role of renewable energy and the need to bolster the grid and defenses against cyber threats.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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