Europe is investing in power grids that save consumers money and easily handle surges from\u00a0wind and solar sources\u00a0\u2014 features \u00a0critical to curbing climate change and cutting the Continent’s reliance on coal.<\/p>\n
But these electricity networks of the future also create big risks.<\/p>\n
So-called smart grids and smart meters expose the power supply to cyber threats that could lead to power outages during the depths of winter or batter the components of the electricity\u00a0system so badly that repairs take ages.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology becomes your Achilles heel if you don\u2019t do the right things,\u201d said Nuno Medeiros, information systems officer at Portugal\u2019s power distribution company EDP Distribui\u00e7\u00e3o.<\/p>\n
In October, residents of two apartment buildings in eastern Finland were left\u00a0in the cold\u00a0for about a week after a hacking attack disabled computers controlling heating and warm water systems. In 2016,\u00a0Israel\u00a0and Turkey\u00a0reported hack attacks. In 2015,\u00a0hackers infected the workstation of a Ukrainian utility company\u00a0with malware, triggering an hours-long blackout affecting\u00a0about 80,000 people\u00a0in the western part of the country. Ukraine reported that another wave of hacks caused blackouts\u00a0in Kiev last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine became such a big story because it was the first attack in the energy sector,\u201d said Michael John, director at the European Network for Cyber Security, a non-government group that focuses on the safety of Europe\u2019s grids and infrastructure. “It demonstrated it is possible.”<\/p>\n
That’s a reality that the now EU faces, with member countries investing in smart technology meant to reconfigure Europe’s\u00a0power networks. Companies are not oblivious to the risks, but experts say\u00a0Europe needs to do more to ensure it is ready to withstand cyber attacks.<\/p>\n
Smart grids allow power networks to deal with the uneven\u00a0electricity produced by renewables.\u00a0These grids allow\u00a0homeowners generating some of their own power to switch between drawing from the grid and selling into it.\u00a0Smart meters allow customers to monitor their electricity usage\u00a0and take advantage of price differences to cut costs.\u00a0All of that is crucial to lowering energy demand and allowing the world to reduce the need for coal-fired electricity and meet the goals of the Paris climate change agreement.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0EU wants to have about 200 million electricity smart meters rolled out by 2020. The European Commission has been a strong advocate for the smartening of Europe’s grids and homes. If its most recent\u00a0legislative proposals are accepted by national governments, every consumer will have the right to ask their\u00a0energy supplier for a smart meter. The move goes hand in hand with European utilities’ efforts to digitize grids and interact\u00a0with customers in a dynamic way.<\/p>\n
“Citizens are central to the successful uptake of low-carbon innovative solutions, from smart meters in their homes to large-scale wind farms,” according to the Commission.<\/p>\n
The idea is that more empowered consumers and smarter grids will lead to a more efficient use of energy and more green energy flowing\u00a0through Europe’s power networks.<\/p>\n
But as things get smarter and people get more connected, the system also becomes more vulnerable.<\/p>\n
“Every component in the grid that has become digitized is becoming an attack point,\u201d said Sander Kruese, privacy and security adviser at\u00a0Alliander, a distribution system operator in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Cyber attacks\u00a0could bring down whole grids, something that could even kill people if it happens in winter.\u00a0That’s the scenario of the\u00a02012 German best-selling novel \u201cBlackout\u201d by Marc Elsberg, which\u00a0portrays a dystopian nightmare after the collapse of the electricity grid triggers telecommunications problems, food shortages and an economic breakdown.<\/p>\n
Those scenarios aren’t far-fetched to experts.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine a situation where hackers find a way to switch off the grid, but in such a way that the [affected] components get destroyed,\u201d said John of the European Network for Cyber Security. \u201cThat would mean a lot of replacement work,\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>which means power could not be restored so fast.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s going to be a growing problem. The U.S. is projected to see the number of smart meters installed climb from 65 million in 2015 (about half of all households) to 90 million by 2020, the Edison Foundation’s Institute for Electric Innovation\u00a0reported. By 2020, almost 72 percent of European consumers are expected to have the\u00a0meters, according to general EU rules.<\/p>\n EU member\u00a0governments were allowed to carry out a cost-benefit analysis\u00a0to see whether a mass smart meter roll-out made sense. Sixteen said yes, while seven others (including Belgium and Germany) found\u00a0that the benefits of introducing them\u00a0for all\u00a0<\/strong>households wasn’t proven, according to the Commission. Nevertheless, countries such as Germany also found that the meters are economically justified for certain groups of customers.<\/p>\n Cost benefits aside, the millions of smart meters installed in homes are a tempting\u00a0target for hackers.<\/p>\n That’s why some countries are choosing “dumber” models out of security fears. The meters\u00a0that really worry security experts are those that\u00a0can be remotely switched off. The dangers range from leaving a single house in the dark to causing a widespread\u00a0<\/strong>blackout\u00a0by switching smart meters on and off repeatedly, said Kruese,\u00a0whose company distributes power to about a third of Dutch households.\u00a0\u201cIf you get control of the grid by getting control of the smart meters, you can cause a lot of damage.\u201d<\/p>\n The Netherlands has opted for smart meters without\u00a0the remote switch-off option, \u201cbecause they saw this threat,\u201d Kruese said.<\/p>\n