Why strengthened grid resilience is key to ensuring security of supply

Electricity networks face unprecedented pressure from rising demand, climate and geopolitical risk. Holistic and strengthened grid resilience is the need of the hour.

The electrification of heat, transport and industry, combined with rising global electricity demand, is placing a greater reliance on electricity networks. This pressure on grid infrastructure is exacerbated by ageing assets, a growing frequency of extreme weather events, and rising geopolitical risk affecting security of supply, cybersecurity, and critical supply chains. Recent, high-profile outages and disruptions, such as events across the Iberian Peninsula, at Heathrow Airport, and during Storm Eowyn in Ireland and Northern Ireland, have affected millions of customers. These incidents underscore the urgent need to prepare electricity networks for extreme events, including cybersecurity attacks and severe storms.

At European level, the introduction of targeted directives and regulations reflects a growing concern about the resilience of critical national infrastructure in EU member states.

• The Critical Entities Resilience Directive establishes a framework to address the resilience of critical entities against potential hazards, whether natural or human-made, accidental or intentional.
• The NIS2 Directive requires utilities to implement cybersecurity measures to prevent, detect, and respond to incidents that risk the security and continuity of energy supply.
• The Network Code on Cybersecurity sets a standard for the cybersecurity of cross-border electricity flows.

Utilities must now act. Many are reinforcing physical infrastructure while also planning for how to manage impaired electricity systems. This approach aims to absorb the impact, sustain critical operations, and minimise disruption. Investment in innovative infrastructure, localised data processing, and near real-time planning are central to this shift. Increasingly, utilities are embedding AI into operations to anticipate risks, reduce service disruptions, and ensure a more stable, secure electricity supply.

Five ways utilities can strengthen grid resilience

1. Planning: Utilities are strengthening their networks through planning-led infrastructure investment by deploying advanced materials (e.g. ductile iron and composite poles) and expanding undergrounding lines to reduce storm exposure. IT/OT integration enables smart grid technologies, such as AMI and ADMS, for real-time monitoring and fault detection.
2. Preparing: Preparation increasingly relies on predictive, data-driven asset management. Utilities use AI, machine learning, IoT devices, and proactive vegetation management to monitor asset health, optimise performance and reduce risk. Condition based maintenance, advanced diagnostics, and asset life analysis reduce outages, improve safety, and optimise both capital expenditure and operating expenses. Strong cybersecurity, that is supported by threat detection, vulnerability assessments, advanced penetration testing approaches including red teaming, employee training, multi factor authentication, and encryption, protects critical systems and data.
3. Responding: Proactive strategies include weather-based forecasting, smart grid-enabled response, and drone deployment for rapid fault identification. Agile delivery, scenario-based planning, and proactive vegetation management using LiDAR and machine learning strengthen preparedness, improve decision-making, and enhance operational resilience.
4. Recovering: Post-event recovery focuses on rapid service restoration and effective community support. A key enabler is obtaining accurate, actionable data to the field quickly, ensuring crews can prioritise work and access damaged assets safely. Integrating outage, grid and geospatial data improve coordination between control rooms and field teams. This reduces delays and accelerates overall restoration efforts.
5. Reporting: Utility companies need to analyse event data, document key learnings, and assess overall performance following an incident. This ensures that improvements to strengthen resilience across all stages can be identified and implemented, enhancing future response efforts.

Powering resilience efforts

Grid resilience is now a core consideration in how utilities plan and operate electricity networks in an increasingly complex and uncertain environment. Resilience should not sit as a standalone capability but be embedded across core operations through a structured framework spanning planning, preparation, response, recovery and reporting. Bringing together investment in physical and digital infrastructure, smart grid technologies, cybersecurity, proactive forecasting, predictive maintenance and vegetation management strengthens reliability. It also reduces outages and ensures networks can adapt as electricity demand grows and extreme weather intensifies.

Summary

Growing electrification and rising electricity demand are placing increasing strain on power networks, exacerbated by ageing infrastructure, extreme weather and geopolitical risk. Recent disruptions highlight the urgent need for stronger system resilience. In Europe, the Critical Entities Resilience and NIS2 Directive, alongside the Network Code on Cybersecurity, emphasise protecting critical infrastructure. Utilities must adopt a holistic resilience approach, integrating planning, preparation, response, recovery and reporting into core everyday operations. Achieving these demands focused investment in physical and digital assets, data-driven asset management and robust cybersecurity.

Authors: Tom Slattery, David Cashman, Marc Byrne