OT Cybersecurity Gaps Expose SCADA and PLC Risks in Data Centres
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OT Cybersecurity Gaps Expose SCADA and PLC Risks in Data Centres
data centres are no longer passive electricity consumers , they are active participants in the grid. As hyperscalers and colocation operators sign direct contracts with solar, wind and battery-storage assets, the OT cybersecurity posture of the SCADA systems and PLCs controlling that power becomes a continuity issue, not an IT checkbox. An Enlit World analysis published on 30 September 2026 puts t
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The report identifies the recurring weak points , outdated firmware, default passwords and unsecured remote access channels , as structural rather than incidental. In an industry where a single unpatched controller can halt a facility, that distinction matters.
The energy-data centre convergence is pulling two historically separate risk profiles into one system boundary. Utilities hardened their grids under NERC CIP. Data centre operators hardened their IT stacks under SOC 2 and ISO 27001. The renewable generation and storage layer sits between them , frequently ungoverned by either framework.
Every distributed energy resource added to a data centre’s power strategy introduces another controller, another vendor-managed platform and another remote access path. Traditional air-gapped assumptions no longer hold when a battery-management system streams telemetry to a cloud analytics platform.
The result is a rapidly multiplying set of OT entry points, each of which must be inventoried, segmented and patched. Few operators can currently claim to do all three.
Global data centre electricity consumption is projected to roughly double from 485 TWh in 2025 to 950 TWh by 2030 , around 3% of total global demand (IEA).
Renewables are expected to meet nearly half of the additional generation required to serve that growth over the next five years.
Capital expenditure by the largest technology companies exceeded USD 400 billion in 2025 and is forecast to rise a further 75% in 2026.
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