A cyber attack on renewable energy sources "could send us back to the stone age in just a few days"

Wind and solar energy are helping to decrease Europe'dependense on oil and gas. However, these renewable energy sources also increase vulnerability to hybrid attacks.

Last week, NATO held an international exercise in Scandinavia to address this type of threat. 

"We are closely examining the vulnerability of the renewable energy sector as a source of modern hybrid warfare," said NATO's research chief Bryan Wells.

A worst case scenario would be a cyberattack that caused to a blackout in the power systems for several weeks, as reported in an article on SVT.se. 

"In just a few days, our society would face total collapse, essentially sending us back to the Stone Age—we wouldn’t even be able to pay for food," said energy researcher Enrique Kremers, one of around 100 participants in the Nordic Pine exercise held this week in Jönköping, Sweden, and Espoo, Finland.

"These supply chains have started being used as weapons to manipulate or even extort, which is why we train for these types of threats and risks," said exercise leader Freddy Jönsson Hanberg.

Suspected hybrid attacks  in recent years have prompted the alliance to prioritize defence against these types of threats. The Nordic Pine exercise becoming an official NATO event is part of that effort.

The increased threat to renewable energy sources is linked to growing digitalization. It also involves supply chains, where components may come from foreign powers.

However, NATO welcomes the fact that member countries are becoming more self-sufficient through wind, hydro, and solar power, even though it can increase risks.

Image Credits: Cyber attacks on renewable energies. Illustrations Bjorn Ulfsson / CTIF, executed by Chat GPT.