Growing drone threat sparks fears over UK energy infrastructure

The UK could make airspace above pieces of critical energy infrastructure no-fly zones amid warnings that hostile drones have the ability to cause mass blackouts.

An investigation by Sky News, which can be watched in the video above, has uncovered concerns among campaigners and MPs about the physical security of a network of substations, pylons and cables that keeps the lights on around the country.

They accuse the government and the National Grid of prioritising affordability and speed of construction over investing in better physical protection for new and existing infrastructure, such as with drone nets and hardened shelters or by burying more cables underground.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated how energy can become a frontline at a time of war, with Russian missiles and drones systemically targeting Ukrainian power supplies.

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The UK's own national security strategy, published last year, warned of the need for the nation to "actively prepare" for the possibility of a threat on the home front in a potential war.

Yet the campaigners and MPs say they see little evidence of this factoring into a £30bn plan by the National Grid to upgrade and expand the UK's ageing electricity infrastructure.

And while Energy Secretary Ed Miliband often stresses the importance of energy security, he is typically referring to the reliability of supply, with a focus on reducing dependency on fossil fuels and increasing sources of clean power.

The National Grid's "great grid upgrade" is a project of strategic significance that will keep homes, businesses, schools and hospitals powered for future generations.

'We need to protect our infrastructure'

Some of the new infrastructure is planned for Lincolnshire, where Alicia Kearns is a local MP.

She hopes to amend draft energy legislation proposed in the King's Speech last month to ensure a greater focus on security in the physical sense.

"We have an opportunity to protect ourselves now, whether it be from hostile actors from abroad, whether it be from opportunists at home, whether it be from terror groups at home," the Conservative MP said.

"We need to protect our energy infrastructure. And the government isn't getting that right. And in fact, I don't even think it's on their radar."

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is the state-owned body that manages the flow of energy across the UK.

Deborah Petterson, director of resilience and emergency management, said the UK's energy system was "really resilient" – among the most resilient in the world – and that there is not thought to be a current threat of harm from drones.

But Ms Petterson said she thought it would be a "good idea" to make the airspace above critical energy sites across Britain a no-fly zone to reduce the potential for risk.

NESO has also recently written to the energy industry with advice on drones, which are legitimately used by companies to carry out routine jobs such as inspections of platforms.

However, there appears to be a need for greater thinking among companies and the government on how to identify hostile drones and then what to do about them.

In a sign of changing priorities, NESO recently took part in a first "international security roundtable" with partners from the Five Eyes intelligence community – the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – as well as participants from Norway, Latvia and Ukraine.

They discussed with the Ukrainian officials what it was like to run an energy system "when your neighbour is an aggressive Russia", according to Ms Petterson.

This calculation about what protection is reasonable for a country is obviously different for somewhere that is at war, like Ukraine, compared with the UK, which is not under armed attack but is having to adapt to an increasingly unstable world.

However, factoring in greater protection for the electricity grid would likely mean increased cost.

The threat is real

Fears about drones buzzing UK energy infrastructure are not hypothetical.

A trade body has told Sky News that offshore oil and gas platforms, as well as wind farms in the North Sea, have reported drone sightings that have escalated in their "complexity" – involving multiple drones loitering each time for a number of days – since last year.

Graham Skinner of Offshore Energies UK said the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) had not yet posed a safety hazard and simply appeared to be monitoring infrastructure at a distance.

But as to whether they were being operated by amateurs or hostile states, he said: "It's extremely unlikely that this would be anything other than quite a competent operation."

Asked what the risk is if the UK fails to take the evolution of the security threat to energy infrastructure more seriously, Mr Skinner said: "The threat… is that when we're at our most vulnerable in the depths of winter, we find that we lose a significant part of our supply, whether that be electricity or gas. That has a significant impact on our society at that moment in time, whether or not it's attributable to any nation-state."

He added: "Therefore, resilience should be a whole-country approach, and we should be working really hard in partnership with government and industry to ensure that we are satisfied we've reached appropriate levels."

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said: "Energy resilience and security is our top priority. We work closely with stakeholders, including Offshore Energies UK and National Grid, to protect vital offshore, subsea and onshore energy infrastructure against a range of threats.

"We will publish an Energy Resilience Strategy in 2026, setting out how we will continue to ensure a secure and resilient energy system, now and in the future."

The National Grid referred questions on energy security to DESNZ and NESO.

(c) Sky News 2026: Growing drone threat sparks fears over UK energy infrastructure