Renewable energy production has become a cornerstone of modern electricity systems. Wind farms, solar plants, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and distributed energy resources are no longer supplementary assets. They are a crucial part of critical infrastructure.
According to EMBER, The European Union (EU) is leading the way on wind and solar, which reached 30% (369 TWh) of EU electricity in 2025, higher than fossil power (29%) for the first time on record, up from 20% just five years prior. The EU’s largest source of clean electricity is nuclear (23% of EU electricity in 2025).
As this transition accelerates, so does the need to protect these systems against cyber and hybrid threats that directly impact grid stability and security of supply.
As a Nordic technology leader with over 30 years of operational technology (OT) network security expertise, Netcontrol helps critical infrastructure operators secure and optimize their energy networks with our DOME service — a 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring solution that enhances threat detection, ensures compliance, and improves network visibility.
Built on Nozomi Networks’ world-leading technology, DOME gives our customers a powerful and future-proof foundation for cybersecurity for any OT network.
Watch the DOME service concept video
Renewable energy changes the risk landscape
The shift toward renewable energy is inseparable from digitalization. Modern power generation relies on remote monitoring, automation, and interconnected OT environments. Substations and production sites are often unmanned, geographically dispersed, and connected via IP-based networks.
This development increases efficiency, but it also expands the attack surface. A single compromised device or misconfigured communication path can have cascading effects across the electricity system. For operators, the challenge is no longer only availability, it is resilience.
OT environments require a different security approach
Traditional IT cybersecurity tools are not designed to understand electricity networks or industrial control systems. Renewable energy environments depend on OT components such as RTUs, IEDs, protection relays, and industrial protocols like IEC 61850, Modbus, and DNP3.
In these environments:
- Normal operational behaviour must be clearly distinguished from abnormal or malicious activity
- Alerts must be meaningful to operational personnel, not only security teams
- Visibility must extend beyond IP addresses to actual process-level events
- Real‑time integration with SCADA, EMS and market stakeholders.
Without native OT insight, operators risk reacting too late, or not at all.
The DOME service: Built for critical infrastructure
Netcontrol’s DOME service is an OT-native cybersecurity and situational awareness solution developed specifically for critical infrastructure and electricity networks. Instead of adapting IT security tools to industrial environments, DOME is designed around how energy systems operate in practice.
DOME provides:
- 24/7 monitoring of OT networks and field devices
- Deep protocol awareness tailored to power system communications
- Detection of cyber incidents, misconfigurations, and abnormal operational behavior
- Contextualized insights that support faster decision-making
- Improved asset management
Enhancing resilience in renewable energy operations
For renewable energy operators, cybersecurity is inseparable from operational continuity. Downtime, false control actions, or loss of visibility can quickly escalate into wider grid disturbances.
With the DOME service, we help you to:
- Identify unauthorized access attempts and abnormal command sequences
- Detect deviations from normal operational patterns early
- Support compliance with regulatory frameworks such as NIS2
- Improve coordination between OT operations and security functions
The result is not only improved cybersecurity, but stronger overall operational resilience. And you can focus on your core business.
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Author
Eerik Soininen is a Sales Manager in the Finnish sales team at Netcontrol. He joined the company in 2025 with a background in the energy and water sectors, focusing on service sales, business and service development.
