Energy technology company ABB (NYSE:ABB) has received a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for cybersecurity.

The grant is one of 11 Energy Department grants totaling $30 million announced last Friday. ABB will lead a project developing a system to allow electrical substation devices to work together. The technology is intended to validate the integrity of communications along a power distribution network, such as a command to change a relay’s configuration, and assess the potential impact on grid operations.

Switzerland-based ABB maintains its U.S. headquarters in Cary and also has a major research site on N.C. State University’s Centennial Campus.

Since 2010, Energy Department has invested more than $100 million in cybersecurity research and development through awards and funding provided to industry, universities and national laboratories. The ABB grant was announced by U.S. Rep David Price,a Chapel Hill Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

“Protecting our electric grid and oil and gas infrastructure from cyber attack, is critical to our preparedness, to our economic security and to public safety,” Price said in a statement. “Projects such as ABB’s will make every American more secure by giving energy generators and our homeland security professionals the tools they need to meet the challenges of an evolving cyber landscape.”