Status: 11/19/2022 4:20 p.m
The Federal Network Agency contradicts the latest blackout warnings from the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance. The likelihood of forced power outages in winter is low.
The Federal Network Agency contradicts the warning of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) of power outages in winter. “Germany has one of the world’s most reliable power supply systems,” said a spokesman for the network agency to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
“There are numerous mechanisms and reserves for stabilizing the power grid in tense situations.” There is a low probability that forced shutdowns will be required in the coming winter,” the spokesman said.
The head of the federal office assumes local blackouts in winter
BBK boss Ralph Tiesler had previously said that there could be local power outages in Germany in the coming months due to the tense situation in the energy supply. In his opinion, these failures could go beyond the previous level. “We have to assume that there will be blackouts in winter,” he told “Welt am Sonntag”. “By that I mean a regional and temporary interruption of the power supply.”
However, the cause is then not only energy shortages, but also the targeted, temporary shutdown of the grids by the operators in order to protect the grids and not endanger the overall supply. “The risk of this increases from January and February, so we assume that from then on there will be power interruptions for a certain period of time,” said Tiesler.
Government agencies are not always prepared
In this context, the BBK President criticized the fact that government agencies were not always adequately prepared for crisis situations such as power failures. Some of the municipalities and authorities are “really exemplary”, with precise plans and ensuring the power supply through emergency generators on site. “Others are in a much worse position, they are not sufficiently prepared. It varies greatly,” said the head of the agency.