Energy infrastructure: Europe on high alert

Europe is mobilizing in the face of a new kind of threat targeting energy infrastructures. After the sabotage of the Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines this week, the alert level has risen significantly. The Europeans are ringing the bell to protect their gas and oil pipelines, offshore hydrocarbon exploitation platforms, refineries, power lines, etc. So much equipment that could become targets of the hybrid war waged by the Kremlin against the allies of Ukraine.

“Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is totally unacceptable and will be met with a vigorous and united response,” declared the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. The ambassadors of the Twenty-Seven to the EU broached the subject during their meeting on Wednesday.

The French presidency of the EU, in the first half of the year, made it possible to accelerate European efforts in terms of cyber-resilience, it is recalled in Brussels. The NIS directive (Network and Information System security) has been overhauled and deepened, its scope extending to approximately 150,000 companies compared to a few hundred previously.

Enhanced security measures

But the threat is no longer just IT. Norway, now the leading gas supplier to the European Union, as well as Denmark, have announced that they are strengthening security measures around their infrastructure. Recently, “drones have been detected around Norwegian oil and gas platforms,” note analysts from Rystad Energy. On Monday, Norwegian authorities asked oil companies to be extra vigilant. The United Kingdom, the continent’s second largest hydrocarbon producer, announced that it would collaborate with the Twenty-Seven on the subject.

The Danish Defense Minister met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday. “The circumstances of this disturbing event must be quickly clarified and those responsible identified,” said German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. In short, Europe wants to show that it is on high alert.

Russia accuses the United States

Little is known about the exact nature of the attack. It is indeed a “deliberate act”, according to Josep Borrell. The technical investigations will not be able to start before one or two weeks, the time that the disturbances caused by the leaks are absorbed, warned Copenhagen.

Russia, for its part, is trying to turn the situation around: Moscow accuses the United States of being responsible for the sabotage and calls for a meeting of the UN Security Council. “The American president is obliged to answer the question of whether the United States has carried out its threat”, launched on Telegram the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova. She refers to a statement by Joe Biden in early February that Washington would “terminate” the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the event of Russian intervention in Ukraine. “Ridiculous,” replied the White House.

Hard-to-avoid attacks

“By their very nature, energy infrastructures are vulnerable because they transport hydrocarbons or electricity,” emphasizes Arnold Dupuy, of the American Naval Postgraduate School, who works for NATO on these issues. Europeans are as well prepared as they can be, but attacks are hard to avoid completely, whether physical like this or cyber.” This expert points out that underwater gas pipelines are particularly well protected to avoid any accident. “Whoever carried out this attack has significant technological and financial resources, as well as precise knowledge of the pipeline,” he says.

Gas leaks first represent a physical danger: Denmark and Sweden immediately banned navigation in areas where the sea is boiling because of the gas rising to the surface, as well as overflight by planes. It is also a disaster for the environment. Andrew Baxter of the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that 115,000 tonnes of methane are being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of almost 10 million tonnes of CO₂. “That’s the same climate impact as the annual emissions of 2 million petrol cars or 2.5 coal-fired power stations,” he wrote on Twitter.