If a cyber incident affects a wind farm, having security measures in place is only part of the answer. Operators also need to know who can make decisions, how control will be recovered and whether those arrangements actually work under pressure.
Hybrie De Jager, Compliance Specialist at Centrii, describes this as the need for a ‘trusted megawatt’: generation that remains controllable and recoverable when digital systems, suppliers and operational teams are disrupted.
Cybersecurity becomes a leadership issue
A cyber incident can affect turbine systems, remote connections and suppliers simultaneously. Responsibility, meanwhile, may be divided between owners, asset managers, operations and maintenance (O&M) providers and technology partners.
NIS2 makes management oversight more important. According to De Jager, organisations need clear answers to questions such as who can disconnect a supplier, suspend remote access or authorise operational decisions during an incident.
The critical measure is ‘decision latency’: the time between the first warning and a coordinated, authorised response.
The idea of a trusted megawatt
De Jager believes that installed capacity alone does not describe the resilience of a wind asset.
A ‘trusted megawatt’ is generation supported by:
- Secure control systems
- Clear accountability
- Demonstrated recovery capability
- Reliable supplier arrangements
- Evidence that controls work in practice
This is particularly important for wind farms because operational technology often has long lifecycles and limited opportunities for software updates. Assets may also be geographically dispersed and depend heavily on remote access.
Recovery involves restoring data as well as safe turbine control. Operators also need to verify configurations and manage a controlled return to generation.
Supplier risk goes beyond contracts
Third-party relationships are another important area.
A turbine manufacturer may provide remote diagnostics while an O&M provider manages access. The greatest risk can therefore exist at the point where responsibilities pass between organisations.
Centrii argues that operators should understand which suppliers are operationally critical, who holds essential information and whether recovery support has actually been tested.
De Jager describes the objective as ‘portable resilience’: even when activities are delegated, the wind farm should retain enforceable access to the information, authority and recovery support needed during an incident.
Evidence matters more than paperwork
Preparing for NIS2 involves updating policies as well as putting them into practice.
De Jager believes that useful evidence should show how a cyber risk moved from discovery through decision, treatment and verification. This creates an organisational record that remains available even when employees or suppliers change.
For operators beginning their NIS2 work, she recommends tracing one critical dependency, such as turbine remote access or an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) control platform.
Teams can then establish:
- Who controls the system
- Who can authorise action
- Where evidence is stored
- What happens if a supplier becomes unavailable
- Whether recovery procedures actually work
The process can then be repeated across other critical dependencies.
Preparing for continuous assurance
De Jager expects cyber governance to move from periodic compliance reviews towards continuous, evidence-led assurance.
Digital twins, cloud-connected platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) may improve visibility, but they also introduce dependencies involving connectivity, data quality and external providers.
For wind operators, the question is therefore becoming broader than whether individual systems are secure. The more important test is how much generation remains trusted when technology, suppliers and decision making are placed under pressure at the same time.
Read the full interview in PES Wind: https://pes.eu.com/exclusive-articles/the-trusted-megawatt-cyber-resilience-you-can-evidence
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