Energy Department to Fund RD&D Projects for Energy Sector Cybersecurity Technologies

The Department of Energy has awarded nearly $12 million in research, development and demonstration projects for new cybersecurity technologies for the energy sector. The funding lots were awarded to six universities.

According to the department, the technologies are designed, operated and maintained to survive and recover from cyberattacks. The DOE said a resilient energy sector is essential to its goal of providing cleaner and cheaper energy while meeting the Biden administration‘s aims of achieving a fully clean electrical grid by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The funding will be used to advance anomaly detection, artificial intelligence and machine learning and physics-based analytics for the security of next-generation energy systems, the Energy Department said Thursday.

According to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, investing in cybersecurity technology will keep the United States at the top of global innovation. The developments will also ensure that energy systems are protected from foreign threats.

The six universities that will receive funding are Florida International University, Iowa State University, New York University, Texas A&M Engineering Experimenting Station, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The univevrsities, which will partner with companies and other academic institutions, will develop cyber-physical platform tools and technologies that can detect and mitigate incidents.