* Remote control of 5,800 wind turbines knocked out
* Enercon says disruption coincided with Russian invasion
* Says working with providers to resolve problem
* German watchdog BSI says aware of the indicent
BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Germany's Enercon on
Monday said a "massive disruption" of satellite connections in
Europe was affecting the operations of 5,800 wind turbines in
central Europe.
It said the satellite connections stopped working on
Thursday, knocking out remote monitoring and control of the wind
turbines, which have a total capacity of 11 gigawatt (GW).
"The exact cause of the disruption is not yet known. The
communication services failed almost simultaneously with the
start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine," Enercon said in a
statement.
The company said it had no further information on who or
what may have caused the disruption.
Enercon has informed Germany's cybersecurity watchdog BSI
and is working with the relevant providers of the satellite
communication networks to resolve the disruption, which it said
affected around 30,000 satellite terminals used by companies and
organisations from various sectors across Europe.
BSI said it was aware that a satellite-based communications
operator has experienced a malfunction and that this had
restricted the maintenance of some wind turbines, without
providing details.
"However, no effects on power grid stability are currently
expected due to redundant communication capabilities of the
responsible grid operators. Further investigations into the
cause are being carried out by the company concerned in close
exchange with the responsible authorities," BSI said.
U.S.-listed satellite communications firm Viasat Inc
said earlier on Monday it was investigating a suspected
cyberattack that caused a partial outage in its residential
broadband services in Ukraine and other European countries.
Enercon is working with the operators of the affected wind
farms to set up alternative ways to regain remote control of the
turbines, it said, without naming the operators.
There was no risk to the turbines as they continued to
operate on "auto mode," the company said.
German daily Handelsblatt first reported the disruption
earlier on Monday.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan, Christoph Steitz and Andreas
Rinke; Editing by Miranda Murray and Bernadette Baum)