As Europe accelerates investments in energy networks, interconnections and cross-border infrastructure, cybersecurity must be embedded into projects from the very beginning rather than treated as a secondary consideration, according to Corina Popescu, Vice-president of Strategy and Business Development, ENEVO Group speaking at FOREN 2026.
Addressing the challenges and opportunities facing the European energy sector, Popescu outlined five key pillars needed to accelerate investment in energy infrastructure across the region.
“We are building energy highways and investing billions in grids and interconnections but are we ready to protect them?” she said during the conference.
According to Popescu, the first priority is establishing a stable and predictable regulatory framework that provides investors with long-term certainty. She also emphasized the need to simplify and align permitting and authorization processes with strategic infrastructure development objectives.
A third priority is the effective use of dedicated European funding mechanisms, which are expected to increase significantly during the 2028–2034 financial period and could help keep energy costs affordable for end consumers.
Popescu further highlighted the importance of building resilient energy networks that incorporate robust cybersecurity measures from the design stage, as well as strengthening regional and European planning, supported by close cooperation between transmission system operators and distribution system operators.
“Cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a secondary component of infrastructure investments,” Popescu said. “I would not like to see a situation in two or three years where we have built a high-performance network with numerous interconnections and modern cross-border lines, only to discover that we lack the cybersecurity structure needed to protect it.”
She stressed that cybersecurity-related costs require special regulatory treatment and should be reflected appropriately in network tariffs rather than being classified as standard IT expenditures.
“This issue must be approached with the utmost attention. Cybersecurity costs should receive dedicated treatment within network tariffs and should no longer be regarded as ordinary IT investments,” she added.
As part of ENEVO Group’s contribution to strengthening critical infrastructure protection, Popescu highlighted SentryOT, an advanced cybersecurity and monitoring platform developed by ENEVO Cybersec.
“SentryOT provides the protection layer required for the energy highway that Europe is building through major investments in grids and interconnections,” she noted.
Concluding her remarks, Popescu called for cybersecurity investments to become an integral part of critical infrastructure development strategies.
“Investments in cybersecurity must become a core element of infrastructure development strategies in order to guarantee security of supply, network reliability and the resilience of the European energy system,” she said.