Massive incident: The remote maintenance of thousands of systems is currently disrupted. In the event of failures, teams must visit the facilities.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf, Berlin A massive disruption of the European satellite connections restricts the operation of thousands of wind turbines in Central Europe. The large German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon confirmed this to the Handelsblatt on Monday.
The remote monitoring and control of 5,800 systems with a total output of eleven gigawatts are affected. It was still unclear on Monday afternoon whether systems from other providers were also affected.
Because the systems are part of the critical infrastructure, Enercon reported the incident to the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The company said it was in close contact with the authorities. A BSI spokesman confirmed: “We are informed, are in contact with the Federal Network Agency and are trying to evaluate that.” However, further findings are only expected in the course of the day.
Enercon emphasized that the systems are still in operation and that there is currently no danger. They would run in automatic mode until the problem was solved and could “basically regulate themselves independently”. However, remote access is no longer possible, which is why the turbine manufacturer from Aurich has to send its service staff out to check the individual systems in the event of a fault. The company is working “at full speed” to fix the problem.
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The German Wind Energy Association reported that the problems with the systems were due to the failure of the KA-SAT network. KA-SAT offers satellite internet for Europe and the Mediterranean region. This is attractive for operators of wind turbines because their turbines are often located in regions without fast internet. “It is important to know that the wind turbines also run without the Internet,” emphasized a spokesman for the association.
Accordingly, only the provider Euroskypark is affected by the failure of the satellite network. The Saarbrücken-based company offers “connection services and solutions for industrial applications and safety-critical infrastructures”. The company could not be reached for comment in the afternoon.
The exact cause of the satellite disruption that occurred last Thursday is not yet known. However, the communications services failed almost at the same time as the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Around 30,000 satellite terminals across Europe, which are used by different industries, are affected.
Experts see three possible causes of the problems: First, the connection could be disrupted by a cyber attack, a manager of a satellite company told the Handelsblatt. German security authorities have been warning of such attacks in connection with the Russia-Ukraine conflict for weeks. In this case attackers would have penetrated the computer network of the satellite operators.
Secondly, electronic interference, for example through electronic warfare, also comes into consideration. The connection may be deliberately interrupted by antennas – for example by a truck equipped with high-tech antennas.
The expert sees a third possibility in the fact that there could be ground stations in Ukraine that could have been destroyed in a rocket attack. Today’s satellites can be thought of as large mirrors. The Internet signal is sent from the ground station to a large satellite in geostationary orbit, which reflects the signal back down. If the ground station is disturbed, the satellite data can no longer be received.
The BSI has been assessing the current situation for several days with the second highest warning level “Orange” and has activated the National IT Crisis Response Center. Most recently, the authority warned on Friday of an “increased threat to Germany”.
More: After cyber attacks against Ukraine, Russia is apparently also being attacked
