Partners 'Cyber-Secure Energy Hubs’ join forces at Living Lab Scheveningen

The ‘Cyber-Secure Energy Hubs’ project recently has been granted more than €900,000 in 'Kansen voor West' funding to improve the digital security of our energy system as a result of the energy transition. On 24 September, the project partners came together at Living Lab Scheveningen to share the first experiences and lessons learned from the project and to discuss the next steps towards practical solutions for cyber-secure energy hubs. 

The project brings together SMEs, knowledge institutions and three field labs in South Holland to improve the digital security of energy systems. With more energy generation, consumption, storage and management taking place locally, digital security is becoming an increasingly important part of the design and operation of decentralised energy systems.
 

Sharing experiences across three work packages

During the session, partners shared the first experiences and lessons learned from the four work packages that make up the project: 

• Secure energy generation and use: focusing on the secure generation and use of energy within decentralised energy hubs and the role of security mechanisms.
• Secure energy services: focusing on securely connecting energy services to the energy grid and developing solutions according to ‘Secure by Design’ principles.
• Secure management and digital twinning: focusing on secure management and the use of digital twins to support the reliable operation of energy hubs. 

The partners also discussed their first ideas for the five innovation products being developed within the project. Bringing together the knowledge and experiences from the different experts in the work packages is an important step towards translating the project’s research and development activities into practical, scalable energy solutions. 

Key take-aways from the highly effective learning session:

• The three separate different Energie Innovation Labs in South-Holland foresee many similar opportunities in improving the energy system
• A pre-requisite for Energy experts working on Cyber challenges is to speak the same language in terms of terminology; just like to IT/OT protocols      
• The ambitions of the Small and Medium sized Enterprises aim for scalable, standardised solutions with Elaat in the back of their minds  
• And with a realistic down-to-earth approach: start small, learn quickly and learn from each other!
  
  

Testing solutions in practice

The three participating field labs provide an important link between innovation and real-world application. At these locations, SMEs and knowledge partners can develop and test technologies and approaches for improving the digital security of energy systems and energy hubs.
 

Living Lab Scheveningen hosted the meeting and gave participants a closer look at the field lab and it's role within the project. Following the meeting, participants joined a tour of the Living Lab and got more insights into the role of digital twinning in creating a more secure energy infrastructure.
 

This project is co-funded by the European Union and Kansen voor West and is connected to the Cyber-Secure Energy Transition Innovation Coalition.