Energy Department Introduces Multimillion-Dollar Funding Round for Clean Energy Cybersecurity

The Department of Energy has announced a $30 million funding initiative focused on integrating cybersecurity measures into clean energy solutions.

The Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response is interested in several cybersecurity-related topic areas, including forensic analysis for renewable energy field devices, cyberthreat identification and mitigation for inverter-based resources, inter-organizational communications among energy agencies and virtual power plant cybersecurity.

The DOE expects to award approximately 10 contracts worth up to $3 million each. Funding will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Energy Department said.

The funding round is the latest investment opportunity from the DOE for cybersecurity matters.

In November, CESER announced a $70 million funding round for projects enhancing cybersecurity capabilities for electric cooperatives and municipal and small investors’ utilities located in rural areas. The funding round was made available to cyber technical assistance programs focused on cybersecurity solutions and training.

In August, the DOE and the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute solicited proposals to improve cybersecurity for the manufacturing sector. Focus areas included supply chain and production security, secure digitalization for small- and medium-sized manufacturers and secure additive manufacturing.