ZEW Energy Market Barometer - German Energy Policy Should Take Greater Account of IT Security
ResearchIT is of growing importance to companies in the energy economy. Many processes are automated and connected using control software. This creates a risk for companies in the energy economy to be attacked by hackers; software errors or computer viruses can cause large-scale power blackouts. Germany’s major power supply facilities, however, seem to be well or at least sufficiently protected from IT errors and cyber attacks. This view is maintained by the majority of the approximately 170 energy market experts from science and business surveyed by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) for the semi-annual Energy Market Barometer.
Three quarters of the energy market experts assume that the power grid infrastructure, the distribution network, power plant control, as well as energy trading and management are protected very well or at least sufficiently. However, these figures draw no absolutely clear picture of the situation. After all, 25 per cent of the experts assess the protection of power supply facilities to be insufficient or even bad.
According to energy market experts, IT security should become a more important topic on the economic policy agenda. Only one third of the surveyed experts believe that energy policy pays enough attention to the dangers arising from potential hacker attacks and further IT risks. By contrast, 67 per cent are convinced that policy-makers are not doing enough to ensure IT security in the future energy economy. “The experts surveyed in the ZEW Energy Market Barometer expressly demand that policy-makers take account of IT security with regard to the energy transition and the network expansion in Germany,” says Professor Andreas Löschel, Head of the ZEW Research Department "Environmental and Resource Economics, Environmental Management."
Contact
Prof. Dr. Andreas Löschel, Phone +49/621/1235-200, E-mail loeschel@zew.de
Dr. Nikolas Wölfing, Phone +49/621/ 1235- 217, E-mail woelfing@zew.de
The ZEW Energy Market Barometer
The ZEW Energy Market Barometer is a twice-yearly survey of around 200 experts from academia and industry, including energy supply, trading, and service companies; regional suppliers; as well as electricity and green-power companies. The experts are asked about their expectations regarding short and medium term developments in national and international energy markets. The complete results of the current survey undertaken in November 2013 (about 170 responses) will appear in the January/ February 2014 edition of ZEWnews.