Spotlighting The Voices That Matter.

Voices: The Autonomy Advocates

Kular Team curates analysts, lawmakers and researchers here who argue that Europe’s energy transition must not deepen reliance on Chinese state-linked supply chains and technology. This page is designed as a public briefing room – clear, reference-able and easy to share with decision-makers.

Why these voices matter

Energy systems are now a strategic arena, and European policy and security discussions increasingly focus on limiting China’s influence within Europe’s energy ecosystem. The goal here is not commentary for its own sake, but practical clarity: what risks exist, what safeguards are proposed and which alliances are viewed as credible alternatives.

Featured Viewpoints

Grid Security & Critical Infrastructure

  • Smart grid exposure: Commentary on why digitised grids expand the attack surface and why component provenance matters.
  • Hardware risk: Analysis of why certain imported components (including power electronics) are treated as high-trust items in national infrastructure discussions.
  • Policy focus: Arguments for stricter procurement rules, audits and exclusions in sensitive grid deployments.

Energy geopolitics & de-risking

  • Supply chain concentration: Briefings on how dependencies can shift (fuels, minerals, manufactured components) without restoring true autonomy.
  • De-risking logic: Perspectives favouring reduced exposure to single-country dominance across solar, batteries, and critical materials.

The Alliance Case

  • Democratic energy security: Voices arguing that Europe’s strongest hedge is deeper alignment with trusted democratic partners on fuels, technology and our industrial capacity.
  • Resilience over price: Positions that prioritise continuity and strategic trust above cheapest-available procurement.

Kular Team: The Curated Library

The following resources represent the intel gathered over the years. The truth is accessible to us, if you’re willing to listen.

Watch

China's Gateway to Europe – The New Silk Road

DW Documentary, 42 minutes

Documents how China uses infrastructure investment – including energy projects and grid technology – to gain influence in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, with detailed coverage of coal plant financing in Bosnia and surveillance technology deployment in Serbia.

China Hacking America's Critical Infrastructure

CBS 60 Minutes with Gen. Tim Haugh, 13 minutes

Retired NSA Director and U.S. Cyber Command leader warns that China has infiltrated water plants, electrical grids and telecommunications networks to preposition for future disruption, revealing that “there is no other reason to target those systems” except preparation for conflict.

Energy Security on the Frontline

POLITICO Panel Discussion, December 2025

European policymakers and military officials discuss hybrid threats to energy grids, protection of undersea cables, and the coordination challenges between NATO, the EU, and member states in securing critical infrastructure.

The Future of European Energy and Security

TSCNET Munich Keynote, July 2025, 51 minutes

Comprehensive analysis of future European energy generation, grid-scale storage and security threats including autonomous cyber weapons targeting critical national infrastructure and pre-positioned AI cyber weapons in compromised supply chains.

Moldova: Towards Energy Independence

ARTE Documentary, 3 minutes

Case study showing how a small nation once entirely dependent on Russian gas achieved nearly 50% renewable electricity coverage to boost energy security and align with European standards.

Revisiting Europe's Energy Independence

Bruegel Economics Panel, February 2025

Leading European think tank economists discuss the REPowerEU plan, trade-offs between energy needs and Russian sanctions and whether Europe can accelerate green investment while maintaining security of supply.

Friendshoring the Lithium-Ion Battery Supply Chain

Policy Discussion, June 2024

Examines how lithium-ion battery supply chains are centralised in a handful of countries, with China’s dominance in mineral processing creating vulnerabilities that require allied coordination and strategic “friendshoring” to address.

Read

The Dragon in the Grid: Limiting China's Influence in Europe's Energy System

ISS Europa Policy Brief, January 2026

Authoritative EU security analysis documenting how China controls 220 GW of European solar capacity through remotely controllable inverters, with evidence of unexplained backdoor communication components discovered in Chinese-manufactured devices.

How China Could Crash Europe's Energy Grid and What the EU Can Do About It

European Council on Foreign Relations, November 2025

Details how Huawei alone has a 115 GW share of the EU inverter market and how the sudden loss of 2.1 GW triggered Spain’s April 2025 blackout – demonstrating cascade failure risks from remotely accessible components.

From Russian Gas to Chinese Solar: Europe's New Strategic Dependency

European Relations, January 2026

Recent briefing documenting how Europe risks replacing one authoritarian energy dependency with another as installed solar capacity grows at record speed while relying on state-linked supply chains.

Winds of Change: How Offshore Wind is Shaping Energy Politics in the UK, Germany and Beyond

Edinburgh Europa Institute, December 2023

Academic analysis of how offshore wind has become central to European energy policy, but also explores supply chain competition and the risk that nations may compete over capturing investment rather than cooperating on security.

China-Linked Hackers Breached a Power Grid – Again

WIRED, September 2023

Investigative reporting on the Chinese hacking group APT41/RedFly’s compromise of an Asian national power grid for over six months, revealing patterns that echo concerns about European grid vulnerabilities.

Download

Circuit Breakers: Securing Europe's Green Energy Supply Chains

ECFR Policy Paper

Comprehensive policy framework for how European policymakers can selectively reduce China exposure in green technology supply chains through strengthened domestic policies and allied partnerships.

Europe's Energy Security: In Search of Supply Independence

European Commission Report

Official EU analysis of the REPowerEU concept to achieve independence from Russian fossil fuels by 2030 through diversification (60 bcm) and renewable replacement (40 bcm), with expert commentary on implementation challenges.

Lithium and Cobalt – A Tale of Two Commodities

McKinsey Metals & Mining Report

Detailed supply-demand analysis showing how battery raw material supply chains create concentration risks, with cathode composition determining dependency levels on specific mineral sources dominated by narrow geographic regions.