<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/no-one-likes-to-say-it-but-china-is-the-cybersecurity-elephant-in-the-renewable-energy-room/>
"People in Australia’s renewable energy industry are only too happy to chat
about their Chinese supply chain, until the subject turns to cybersecurity and
then it becomes a game of “guess who”.
China is the dominant supplier of solar panels, inverters and batteries to the
Australia market of every size, and controls the manufacturing of much of what
goes into wind turbines as well.
Panelists in a sparsely-attended discussion about cybersecurity at the
Australian Clean Energy summit last week danced around they Who Must Not Be
Named, but just as in the Harry Potter series it was clear who they were
referring to.
One attendee confirmed that China’s dominance of the supply chain meant that it
was also seen as the principal source of cybersecurity risk. But they only said
that on the proviso they not be named.
“We know that foreign, hostile actors see Australia’s energy system as a good
target,” Home Affairs assistant secretary for cyber security Sophie Pearce told
a small, afternoon-on-the-last-day audience.
“We know that cyber vector is the most likely means of disrupting our energy
ecosystem, and I think that the energy transition raises the stakes even
further. Where we’re reliant on foreign investment and foreign supply chains,
lots of opportunity there, obviously.
“When there’s a dependency on jurisdictions that might require or can compel
access to data or access to systems, that increases the risks.”
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is also aware of the risk created
by a concentrated supply chain.
Pearce Courtney handles cyber coordination for energy markets at AEMO, and
while he says it’s maintaining visibility over the whole structure that keeps
the organisation “up at night”, technology concentration risk is on the radar.
“The other one… that’s the concentration on our technology,” Courtney said at
the summit.
“In terms of the technology and the devices and where we’re buying our supply
chain. That’s probably the other challenge that doesn’t keep us up at night,
that’s a significant, complex challenge.”
China controls 80 per cent of the global supply chain for all the manufacturing
stages of solar panels, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA)
report from 2022. A similar study from 2024 shows China has almost 85 per cent
of global battery cell production capacity.
Australia has one solar panel maker in Tindo Solar, albeit with a goal to
increase this with the
Future Made in Australia plan, and a smattering of
local battery makers such as Empower which manufactures at home and in
Malaysia."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
