European energy companies are demanding defense and security experts to protect their infrastructure from sabotage and cyber attacks. The Financial Times. Finnish companies Portum and Neste have turned to former NATO employees and diplomats to recruit geopolitical experts to their staff. Network operators across Europe are investing in improving the security of critical infrastructure. These measures are taken against the background of increasingly frequent acts of sabotage in Europe by Russia and other countries. The head of a major European energy company told a closed-door meeting ahead of the Adipec conference in Abu Dhabi that the company has begun working closely with government intelligence agencies to protect its infrastructure. Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy, which supplies equipment for power grids and gas turbines, said that Europe is "not sufficiently protected" against attacks on energy infrastructure.
"She is vulnerable. A few months ago we already saw attacks on substations [in Germany]. If it happens again or if we see something similar to what is happening in Ukraine or the Emirates, it becomes clear that we are not ready for it. We need to work now to solve this problem," Baruch said.
Samo Faukonen, a former NATO official who joined Finnish energy company Portum this year, said the drone attack at Leipzig airport and other hybrid attacks "reinforced the need" for companies to build in-house geopolitical expertise and improve resilience.
"Infrastructure operators have had to design backup systems and invest heavily to be prepared for contingencies previously considered impossible," he said. In addition to the physical threats, energy companies have had to fend off an increasing number of cyber attacks in recent years.