Renewables Are Now Critical Infrastructure — Are We Protecting Them Enough?

For years, the conversation around renewables has focused on cost, scale, and decarbonisation.

But the context has changed.

Today, wind farms, solar assets, and the grids that connect them are no longer just energy projects - they are strategic infrastructure.

Recent geopolitical tensions, including actions linked to Russia, have highlighted a reality the industry can no longer ignore:
energy systems are targets.

A shift in how we need to think

Renewables were once seen as decentralised, low-risk, and inherently resilient.

In many ways, they still are. But as they scale - particularly offshore wind - they are becoming:

• Central to national energy security

• Increasingly interconnected

• Digitally enabled and remotely operated

That combination creates new vulnerabilities.

Where the real risks lie

The risk is not just about turbines.

It’s about the wider system:

• Subsea cables connecting offshore assets to shore

• Grid infrastructure under growing strain

• Digital control systems (SCADA, remote operations)

• Supply chains that are global and complex

In other words, the very things that make renewables efficient also make them exposed.

Physical and cyber are now intertwined

We are no longer dealing with isolated threats.

• Physical disruption can take down generation or transmission

• Cyber interference can compromise operations without a single physical breach

• Hybrid threats - combining both - are becoming more plausible

This is not hypothetical. It is the direction of travel.

What needs to change

If renewables are to underpin future energy systems, we need to design them differently:

• Resilience by design, not as an afterthought

• Redundancy in critical connections, especially offshore

• Real-time monitoring and intelligence sharing

• Closer collaboration between energy companies, governments, and security agencies

• Use AI Tools to find Vulnerabilities the latest AI tools are now much better at finding the gaps in the cyber security, they need to be used and the holes fixed

This is not just an engineering challenge - it’s a strategic one.

A leadership moment for the industry

The energy transition is accelerating.

But with scale comes responsibility.

If renewables are the backbone of our future energy system, they must be protected like it.

That means thinking beyond megawatts and into security, resilience, and system integrity.

Because the question is no longer just how fast we can build.

It’s whether what we build is robust enough to withstand the world it operates in.

Curious how others are approaching this — particularly around offshore assets and grid resilience. What are you seeing in your organisations?