By Adan Salazar. Media: Infowars
The rogue communication devices, discovered inside inverters heavily relied on in the solar panel and wind farm industries, have prompted concern among US Energy Dept. officials, Reuters wrote Wednesday, adding inverters are also used in “batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers.”
“Over the past nine months, undocumented communication devices, including cellular radios, have also been found in some batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers” by US experts, Reuters wrote, citing an unnamed source.
The anonymous sources also warned that “Using the rogue communication devices to skirt firewalls and switch off inverters remotely, or change their settings, could destabilize power grids, damage energy infrastructure, and trigger widespread blackouts…”
“That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid,” they said.
It’s unclear how many covert devices have been discovered, and the sources declined to name any manufacturers.
Speaking to Reuters, former NSA Director Mike Rogers cautioned the Chinese could be positioning themselves to have control over America’s energy grid.
“We know that China believes there is value in placing at least some elements of our core infrastructure at risk of destruction or disruption,” Rogers said. “I think that the Chinese are, in part, hoping that the widespread use of inverters limits the options that the West has to deal with the security issue.”
In a statement, the Chinese government vehemently denied accusations it had a clandestine backdoor to America’s energy infrastructure.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said: “We oppose the generalization of the concept of national security, distorting and smearing China’s infrastructure achievements.”
Meanwhile, a US Dept. of Energy spokesman, while not acknowledging the discoveries, said US companies implementing the emerging green tech should have full knowledge of possible risks.
“While this functionality may not have malicious intent, it is critical for those procuring to have a full understanding of the capabilities of the products received,” the DOE spokesperson told Reuters.
News the Chinese Trojan-horse spy tech could spark mass blackouts in the US follows a major European power grid outage last month affecting Portugal, France and Spain that unfolded just days after Spain declared a renewable energy milestone.
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