Digitizing energy must go hand in hand with security
At the Hack the Power Grid hack event in The Green Village at TU Delft, smart students and professional hackers had a go at our FlexCore edge computing system for low-voltage stations. The system was the only hardware system in the competition and it met the test for robustness. All the hackers could find were ‘known vulnerabilities’. It was an instructive experience that helps us further strengthen our solutions for the energy domain using expertise from the energy ecosystem.
Innovation Coalition for a Cybersecure Energy Transition
This hackathon was organized by the South Holland Innovation Coalition for a Cybersecure Energy Transition. Technolution is one of the core members of this coalition, which seeks to promote secure digitization of Dutch energy systems. The coalition focuses on the interface between energy and security – two domains where Technolution has much to offer. In addition to a secure and reliable energy supply, the innovation coalition fosters the investment climate in South Holland. The impetus that goes out from this initiative for research and education is another good reason for us to participate: highly trained and motivated professionals are an essential asset for the region and crucial for us as a business.
Digitization and security
Digitization of the energy supply is crucial if we are to meet the challenges of the energy transition. But it comes with new vulnerabilities of its own. For example, energy management systems that automatically and remotely control assets held by companies, or heat pumps in homes that are switched on and off by energy suppliers from outside. Digitization must therefore always go hand in hand with adequate security solutions to mitigate these vulnerabilities.
A good example of this is the OPEN-MS project. In this project, we work together with TU Delft, The Green Village, and grid operators to digitize a medium-voltage station at The Green Village using our open edge platform FlexCore. It allows the local energy network to function more autonomously and in direct contact with surrounding energy systems. During the project, the platform is being developed further in conjunction with grid operators; all these developments are ‘secure by design’. OPEN-MS is supported by the EKOO program of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
The importance of secure energy management
Recent studies show that energy management has great economic and societal value for the Netherlands. The benefits are immense, certainly when companies on large industrial estates bundle their EMSs into energy hubs: energy management can reduce the grid reinforcement required by 3.3 to 6.2 gigawatt. Growing congestion problems on the grids are further evidence that the need for digitization – and therefore for adequate security solutions – is huge.
Hacking for a good cause
Our edge systems (and other companies’ systems) came under heavy pressure from the hackers at The Green Village. The results were good, but the hackathon shows that security (by design) is a never-ending process when it comes to secure digitization of our energy grids. The Innovation Coalition for a Cybersecure Energy Transition has its work cut out for it!
The Innovation Coalition for a Cybersecure Energy Transition was established in 2025 by the Economic Board Zuid-Holland, TNO, TU Delft, KPN, Stedin, Batenburg Technology, Technolution, The Green Village, the Province of South-Holland, InnovationQuarter, and Security Delta (HSD), in collaboration with the Rotterdam Port Authority, Westland Infra, Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD), European Network for Cyber Security (ENCS), Greenport West-Holland, Top Sectors Energy and ICT, the City of The Hague, TU PowerWeb Institute, Living Lab Scheveningen, Campus@Sea, Sustainability Factory, and Hi Delta.
