Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that firmware updates to photovoltaic inverters connected to the UK grid cannot be used as a vector for cyber or physical disruption.

Maintaining security of energy supplies is a key priority and critical energy operators are required to meet a minimum standard of cyber security and resilience, through the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018.

The Department works continually with Ofgem and the National Cyber Security Centre to ensure that these regulations continue to capture all the most critical operators of energy generation systems. Distributed and smaller-scale generation are key components of a smart and resilient energy system. We are working to ensure that the system is developed in a way which is secure by design.