Prykarpattyaoblenergo,
Ukraine
JSC Prykarpattyaoblenergo is the electricity distribution system operator (DSO) in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine. The company currently employs over 2,600 people, most of whom are highly skilled professionals maintaining a complex and extensive regional electrical network.
Managed electricity networks consist of 24,500 kilometres of overhead lines, 1,700 kilometres of underground cable lines, and nearly 7,000 transformer substations. Company distributes electricity to more than half a million consumers, including both legal entities and households.
Since 2021, Prykarpattyaoblenergo has been actively participating in EU grant projects, including Horizon program project ELECTRON. This three-year-long project focuses on the cybersecurity of power grids, with the primary goal of developing the sophisticated ELECTRON software suite to ensure maximum control over cyber incidents in the information and operational networks of energy companies.
Since autumn 2022, the company has also been involved in the Horizon Europe project eFORT. This work also focuses on the cybersecurity of power grids. However, the main goal here is to create and test a hardware-software solution to protect communication channels between the DSO dispatcher and high-voltage substations. The project also includes a highly interesting component involving solutions to improve the design of high-voltage substations through 3D scanning and modelling.
These and other efforts allowed Prykarpattyaoblenergo to dramatically improve its cybersecurity related tools and processes, following the large-scale cyberattack in 2016.