As part of the Administration’s commitment to a strong and secure power grid, the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability today announced up to $27 million in funding for academic collaborations that will develop and transition advanced cybersecurity technologies to the energy sector. With cybersecurity for the energy sector emerging as one of the most serious challenges associated with grid modernization and infrastructure protection, maintaining a robust pipeline of cutting-edge technologies is essential to helping the energy sector continue adapting to the changing cyber landscape.
The Academic Collaboration for Cybersecurity of Energy Delivery Systems (CEDS) Research and Development for the Energy Sector Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will bring together academic institutions with the expertise and vision needed to develop and transition innovative technologies that will help utilities further reduce the risk of a power disruption resulting from a cyber incident. This FOA is focused on creating teams of academic institutions with expertise in power systems engineering and the computer science of cybersecurity. The teams will develop multi-disciplinary research plans to produce new cybersecurity tools and technologies and make them available to the energy sector. Utilities and suppliers of energy delivery systems and components will be engaged at all stages, from the earliest research through the eventual transition to use by the energy sector. Lessons learned will be shared through academic outreach to ensure that the technical knowledge also transitions to the energy sector.
The Energy Department has a long history of working closely with public and private partners toward the energy sector’s Roadmap to Achieve Energy Delivery Systems Cybersecurity vision of having resilient energy delivery systems designed, installed, operated and maintained to survive a cyber incident while sustaining critical functions by 2020. Since 2010, the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability has invested more than $150 million in cybersecurity research, development and demonstration projects that are led by industry, universities and national labs. Since then, more than 20 new technologies that the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability’s investments helped support are now being used to further advance the resilience of the nation’s energy delivery systems.
The Academic Collaboration for Cybersecurity of Energy Delivery Systems (CEDS) Research and Development for the Energy Sector FOA, which is available at FedConnect.net and Grants.gov, provides additional information, including cost-sharing requirements for government-industry cooperation. The deadline for submitting applications is May 12, 2015.
To learn more about our strategic approach to protecting the nation’s electric grid from the cyber threat, visit the cybersecurity section of our website.
