Chinese “kill switches” have been discovered hidden in American solar farms, triggering urgent warnings over national energy security and prompting calls for Ed Miliband to suspend the UK’s renewable rollout.
On Thursday, Energy Secretary Miliband was urged to order an “immediate pause” on his green energy drive to assess whether British solar installations could face similar risks.
According to Reuters, the suspect components—cellular radios capable of remotely shutting down equipment—were found inside power inverters supplied by unnamed Chinese manufacturers.
Power inverters play a critical role in solar and wind farms by converting energy into a form compatible with the national grid, making them a key point of vulnerability if compromised.
A source told Reuters that tampering with this type of equipment could give Beijing the power to trigger blackouts across the West, warning it represents “a built-in way to physically destroy the grid.”
China has dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign, but the discovery has triggered alarm within the U.S. government and is expected to prompt a similar security review in the UK.
On Thursday, Shadow Energy Minister Andrew Bowie described the findings as “worrying revelations” and called for an urgent investigation by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary.
“We were already aware of concerns raised by the Ministry of Defence and intelligence services over potential surveillance technology in Chinese-made wind turbines,” Bowie said. “But with China’s dominant role in the solar market, these developments are just as—if not more—concerning.”
He added: “Ed Miliband’s ‘Made in China’ energy transition—clean power pursued at the cost of everything else—poses a serious threat to national security and undermines his claims of delivering energy resilience.”
UK Urged to Pause Green Rollout Amid Fears Over Chinese Control of Energy Infrastructure
Calls for a pause in the UK’s green energy expansion have intensified following reports that Chinese-made components capable of remote shutdown—dubbed “kill switches”—were found in U.S. solar farms.
“It is essential that an immediate pause and review is carried out to ensure the safety and security of our energy system,” warned Shadow Energy Minister Andrew Bowie, urging Ed Miliband to act swiftly.
A UK government spokesperson responded: “We would never let anything get in the way of our national security, and while we would not comment on individual cases, our energy sector is subject to the highest levels of national security scrutiny.”
Concerns are mounting as Chinese companies dominate the global supply of power inverters, batteries, and solar panels—key components used widely across Western energy systems. According to research by Wood Mackenzie, Chinese firms supply around 50% of the world’s solar inverters. In 2023, just two companies—Huawei and Sungrow—controlled more than half of the global market.
The European Solar Manufacturing Council estimates that over 200GW of Europe’s solar capacity—equivalent to the output of 200 nuclear power stations—relies on Chinese-manufactured inverters.
“This means Europe has effectively surrendered remote control of a vast portion of its electricity infrastructure,” said Christoph Podewils, secretary general of the industry body. He warned that control over just 3GW to 4GW of generation capacity could be enough to cause serious disruption across the continent.
Recent blackouts in Spain and Portugal are believed to have been triggered by the sudden loss of only 2GW of generation, highlighting the system’s vulnerability.
