The critical energy infrastructure it faces a scenario in which cyber risks, geopolitical tensions, and physical threats can simultaneously affect different parts of the system. In response to this situation, DNV presented a new resilience framework aimed at improving the preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities of energy companies.
The initiative was launched on August 27th at the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) conference in Stavanger, its launch follows research by DNV that reveals a gap in resilience planning within the sector. According to a survey of over 1,000 senior professionals in the energy industry, more than half indicated that their organizations did not have a clearly defined and regularly updated resilience strategy.
Four steps to strengthen energy resilience
DNV’s framework proposes a four-step process analyzing risks, prioritizing investments, implementing selected measures, and continuously validating their effectiveness. The methodology also considers five areas that can determine an organization’s ability to maintain its operations: organization, personnel, physical assets, IT systems, and cybersecurity and supply chains.
This vision addresses the growing interdependence of the energy system, an incident that begins with a physical asset or a digital platform can extend its effects to suppliers, logistics operations, and other essential services. Therefore, DNV encourages companies to identify their critical dependencies and single points of failure before an outage compromises a larger portion of their operations. Preparedness, incident response, and recovery plans are also integral to the operational and investment decisions proposed in the model.
Critical energy infrastructure facing cyberattacks and physical threats
The risks considered range from cyberattacks and extreme weather events to potential attacks on underwater gas pipelines, LNG infrastructure, and maritime transport. The digitalization of the sector adds another dimension. The connection between physical assets, IT systems, and supplier networks increases operational efficiency but also creates new dependencies that must be identified and managed.
As a sector, we must consider resilience as fundamental to daily operations.
Angel Ditlev
Simply put, it is a strategic and social necessity, as it protects our ability to provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy.
Angel Ditlev
Furthermore, energy resilience is no longer limited to the individual protection of facilities, the proposed approach considers how an interruption can travel through different systems and affect other economic activities.
DNV aims to reduce single points of failure
One of the core objectives is to give companies greater visibility into their vulnerabilities, this involves identifying which assets, suppliers, digital systems, or processes can halt operations when they malfunction.
Risks and threats are constant in the energy sector, and few organizations can have complete visibility of their vulnerabilities.
Derek Riezebos
Riezebos added that understanding critical dependencies, reducing single points of failure, and having response, restart, and recovery plans in place can allow organizations to move “from worry to control.” In this context, prioritizing investments becomes especially important, DNV’s proposal allows for assessing where a protection or redundancy measure can have the greatest impact before allocating resources.
Power outages can spread to other critical services
The concern goes beyond the oil facilities gas, electricity, or LNG, according to DNV, recent attacks on energy infrastructure and prolonged power outages show that a single failure can trigger a chain reaction. Transportation, communications, and healthcare are among the services that can be affected when a power disruption reaches a significant scale.
For this reason, the framework proposes coordinated resilience planning across the energy value chain, the combination of preparedness, asset protection, cybersecurity, and recovery plans aims to reduce both the likelihood of disruptions and their impact when they occur. With an increasingly digitized and interconnected energy system, DNV’s proposal places dependency management at the heart of protecting critical energy infrastructure and ensuring continuity of supply.
Source: World Oil
Photo: Shutterstock
