Cyber-Resilience of Offshore Wind Networks (CROWN)

Facilitating the development of a new maritime cyber cluster
Offshore wind farm
 
Led by the University of Plymouth, working in collaboration with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the CROWN project will facilitate the ongoing development of a maritime cyber cluster centered in the heart of the South West.
The partners will co-design the world’s first dedicated offshore wind cyber security research, test and development facility. This will support the investigation of offshore wind technology and control networks focusing on cyber vulnerability, and develop resilience procedures, security measures, and tools. 
The facility will be co-located with the University's Cyber-SHIP Lab leveraging the existing expertise of the Maritime Cyber Threats research group. It will be fully accessible to businesses and external organisations wishing to investigate their systems and technology developers wishing to test new tools. 
CROWN logo
CROWN will bring together the University’s world-leading expertise in maritime cyber security and ORE Catapult’s Research and Technology Capabilities offshore shore wind control system team and its operations and maintenance data team – through the existing Collaborative Offshore Subsea Systems (COSS) research accelerator.
The facility will create a generic representative turbine control network (turbine, array level, offshore substation, onshore substation, control system network) and use this to:
  • identify emergent vulnerabilities,
  • recognise attack vectors,
  • replicate manual (hackers) and automated (malware) attacks,
  • identify defenses and design architectural templates onshore to be deployed offshore,
  • test new defensive technology,
  • deliver training to shore-based and offshore workers,
  • provide advice to policymakers and regulators.
Woman sat at computer in cyber-SHIP lab conducting cyber security measures on a screen that says 'virus alert'
Offshore wind turbine for sustainable energy production.
 

Work with us 

We are seeking additional partners to collaborate with us in building cyber resilience of offshore wind networks. Whether your interest is in shaping collaborative research, meeting future training needs, or ensuring systems’ resilience, please contact Chloe Rowland, CROWN Project Manager, to discuss how your organisation can join us in this pioneering maritime security project.
 

Our people

Related research

Ship's Helm Maritime Cyber Threats research group
 The group has been formed to bring together leading-edge multidisciplinary research and practical expertise in the core areas of cyber-security and maritime operations together with psychology researchers, and maritime law and policy experts.

Cyber-SHIP lab Cyber-SHIP Lab
 A nationally unique £3.2m hardware-based maritime cyber security research and development platform. Our researchers analyse and address cyber security at the hardware, software, and human levels to identify, understand and mitigate threats.

Celtic Sea floating offshore wind Floating offshore wind solutions for Celtic Sea developers
 Find out how our unrivalled technical capabilities and expertise can support the successful roll-out of floating offshore wind (FLOW) in the Celtic Sea.

Marine Institute

Marine Institute 

The University’s Marine Institute is the first and largest such institute in the UK. 

We provide the external portal to our extensive pool of world-leading experts and state-of-the-art facilities, enabling us to understand the relationship between the way we live, the seas that surround us and the development of sustainable policy solutions. 

We are integrating our multidisciplinary expertise in marine and maritime research, education and innovation to train new scientists, engineers, policy-makers, artists, technicians and business managers of the future. 

Find out more about the institute and our research, education and facilities

Centre for Decarbonisation and Offshore Renewable Energy 

In response to climate change imperatives, we are bringing together a critical mass of leading research and expertise from across the University of Plymouth. Through co-creation and collaboration with partners from business, government and key communities from across the globe, the Centre aims to be a beacon for the University’s whole-system transdisciplinary approach to solutions-oriented research, accelerating sustainable developments in decarbonisation and renewable energy.
 
Centre for Decarbonisation and Offshore Renewable Energy