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Utilities prepare for possible attacks on Israel

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Energy minister says there is no need to panic

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Israelis have bought generators, emergency supplies

By Ari Rabinovitch

JERUSALEM, May 1 (Reuters) - Israeli utilities have

deployed backup generators, filled water reservoirs to the brim

and stepped up cyber defences in case the Gaza conflict triggers

war against Israel on multiple fronts.

The energy minister has told Israelis there is no need to

panic about the possibility of blackouts and energy supply

disruptions as Israel has a wide variety of sources to generate

electricity.

But many Israelis showed their concerns by buying household

generators and stocking up on emergency supplies even before an

Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel on April 13, and some

vulnerabilities are clear.

While Israel has not suffered anything like the damage to

power supplies and infrastructure that its Gaza offensive has

wrought on the enclave, it was forced to shut its offshore Tamar

gas rig for a few weeks as a precaution when the war began.

A full conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement would

raise concerns about the security of Israel's Leviathan field

farther north.

There is also the chance, industry officials say, that

Israel's air defences would be overwhelmed during a full-blown

war and that falling debris from mid-air missile interceptions

would damage critical infrastructure.

Israel's defence ministry and military did not respond to

Reuters questions about preparations for such scenarios.

But state-owned utilities are now on a war footing,

stockpiling inventory and fixing equipment damaged along the

Gaza and Lebanon fronts, sometimes under fire. Four electricity

workers have been killed while at work since October.

"We have generators spread out across the country. Since

Oct. 7, all our generators are deployed," said Tamar Fekler,

vice president of operations and logistics at Israel Electric

Corp (IEC). "If the grid is damaged, within seven minutes the

generator comes online and returns electricity to the grid."

If one power plant is hit, she said, it is relatively easy

to bring electricity from another. But handling the smaller

substations that distribute electricity to specific areas is a

bigger challenge. IEC has prepared temporary substations as

backup, but even that might not be enough, Fekler said.

"There is no guarantee here. If tomorrow, heaven forbid,

hundreds of missiles are intercepted and cause harm to dozens of

substations, we will apparently be in a different situation,"

she said.

Depending on the extent of the damage, this could mean two

to three days of no electricity in large parts of Israel,

officials say. In extreme cases, the period without electricity

could be even longer.

Should this happen, power supply will be prioritised for

hospitals, desalination plants, military facilities and other

critical infrastructure, Fekler said.

RESERVOIRS FULL

Israel's allies have repeatedly warned of a regional

conflict since the start of the Gaza war, triggered by a raid on

Israel by the Islamist group Hamas in which 1,200 people were

killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since

Israel began its offensive to eliminate Hamas, according to the

health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Steps by Israeli national water carrier Mekorot to prepare

for the worst-case scenario include filling its reservoirs and

setting up a backup power system that it says can ensure

supplies for at least a week during rolling blackouts.

"Mekorot keeps storage ponds all over the country, as well

as continued pumping from the Sea of Galilee, in order to

maintain a supply of water for all needs," said deputy CEO

Daniel Soffer, whose company relies heavily on an array of

energy-hungry desalination plants.

The utilities say they are facing an increase in cyber

attacks during the war.

Check Point Software Technologies ( CHKP ), the biggest

cyber security company in Israel, has detected a doubling of

cyber attacks on Israeli organizations since October.

"Much of that increase stems from Iranian groups," Check

Point CEO Gil Shwed told reporters in a conference call. "We

specifically have identified 10 types of attacks. Five coming

from Iran, according to our sourcing, and five from Hezbollah,

which is also backed up by Iran."

"We are seeing that the Iranians have a significant impact,

including attacks to take control of infrastructure, hospitals,

educational institutes, critical infrastructure," he said.

The Iranian missile and drone attack in mid-April was

unprecedented, but caused no major damage.

When Israel was forced at the start of the Gaza war to

temporarily shut production at the Tamar gas rig, its main

supply of power, it compensated with extra supplies from the

export-oriented Leviathan field.

Leviathan, however, is in range of Hezbollah missiles and

could also be at risk of temporary closure if exchanges of fire

across the Israel-Lebanon border escalated into all-out war.

"There is no real reason to panic," Energy Minister Eli

Cohen said at the time of Iran's attack. "Israel has the ability

to generate electricity from a big variety of sources spread out

across the country - above ground, deep underground and at sea."

"We have gas rigs, reserves of diesel fuel, independent

reserves of coal, and we are generating a lot of electricity

from renewable energy sources in many areas," he said.

(Editing by Timothy Heritage)