Engineers have discovered ‘kill switches’ embedded in Chinese-manufactured parts on American solar farms, raising fears Beijing could manipulate supplies or ‘physically destroy’ grids across the US, UK and Europe. 

Energy officials are assessing the risks posed by small communication devices in power inverters – an integral component of renewable energy systems that connects them to the power grid. 

About the rogue communication devices (kill switches)

While inverters are built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance, the utility companies using them typically install firewalls to prevent direct communication back to China.

But rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some solar power inverters by US experts who strip equipment hooked to grids to check for security issues, two sources told Reuters.

Using these devices to skirt firewalls and switch off inverters remotely, or change their settings, could destabilise power grids, damage energy infrastructure and trigger widespread blackouts.

‘That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid,’ one of the sources declared.

The discovery has raised fears Beijing may maintain the capability to wreak havoc on power grids across the Western world such is the reliance of renewable energy systems on Chinese-manufactured parts.

British solar panels use parts manufactured in a variety of countries, including China. 

It is not known whether the Chinese ‘killswitches’ are present in any power converters installed on UK wind or solar farms.

But shadow energy minister Andrew Bowie yesterday called on Labour’s Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband to carry out an ‘immediate pause and review’ of its efforts to transition to green power.

However…

The two Reuters sources declined to name the Chinese manufacturers of the inverters and batteries with extra communication devices, nor say how many they had found.

But the existence of the rogue devices had not previously been reported, and the US government has not publicly acknowledged the discoveries.

China has dismissed the claims as a smear. But the discovery has sounded alarm bells within the US government and is likely to prompt a similar scramble in Britain.

Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy minister, on Thursday said the ‘worrying revelations’ should spark serious concern for Mr Miliband and called for an urgent investigation.