US cyber programme seeks innovations for clean energy cybersecurity

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are calling for applications for an energy cybersecurity programme that aims to develop cyber solutions for renewable energy sources and grid operations.

This marks the second call of applications for the Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator (CECA) programme, which brings together federal experts, energy industry representatives and tech developers in the hopes of creating cybersecurity solutions for the energy sector and bringing them to market.

For this second cohort, CECA seeks 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 solutions should support the identification of unauthorised, unmanaged, or compromised assets to be removed or remediated. During a period of three to 12 months, cohort participants will receive professional evaluations of their technologies and partnership opportunities while developing and evaluating cyber-risk solutions.

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“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 M. 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.”

As part of the CECA programme, DOE and NREL have partnered with Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Duke Energy, and Xcel Energy in a joint effort to tackle the growing cyber threats to the US energy sector, and other utilities are invited to join.

Partnering utilities may use the cohort’s cybersecurity technologies once they are assessed and validated and will also gain insights from the technology developers on the latest cyber challenges, best practices, trends and the ability to understand cyber technology solutions.

NREL will select up to five participants for the second CECA cohort. The application portal is open now through February 10, 2023. Participants must be based in the United States.