Expert warns

Blackout alarm in summer due to heat and storms

The domestic electricity grid suffers from a variety of factors in summer.

(Bild: Martin Oberbichler)

The impending heatwave and high risk of severe weather have experts sounding the alarm bells again, but now in terms of blackouts: a large-scale power outage in the Balkans last week was probably a harbinger of a "hot" season.

Air conditioning shock, severe weather super-GAU and Russian threatening gestures are also casting their shadow over the domestic power grid. Last weekend, a nationwide power outage occurred in the Balkans, which was confirmed as a blackout by the European transmission system operators. With an average duration of just two hours, it was not a major problem, but probably a harbinger of a "hot summer" in terms of supply. 

At least that's what Herbert Saurugg, President of the Society for Crisis Preparedness, thinks: "Last Friday we experienced only the third blackout to date in the international interconnected system in Central Europe. Fortunately, due to its short duration, there were no major consequences."

The great search for cooling will soon have the domestic power distributors glowing too.

(Bild: Antonio Diaz)

Disputes about potential dangers
Once again, however, it has become clear that there is no such thing as one hundred percent certainty when it comes to a total power outage. Rising temperatures and extreme weather conditions also put system stability to the test. Just recently, a storm destroyed 17 lattice pylons in the transmission grid in eastern Germany.

The consequences of a blackout would be fatal. Recently, the water pumps in the capital of Montenegro broke down, which is doubly bitter in the heat. I don't even want to imagine that in Vienna.

Herbert Saurugg, Blackout-Experte

Bild: Gerhard Bartel

However, the Austrian Power Grid, which operates the national electricity grid, does not see any danger "from today's perspective": "Of course, regional power outages can always occur, but we are not currently aware of any increased risk of blackouts."

Expert Saurugg replies: "Blackouts always result from a chain of unfortunate individual events, and that cannot be ruled out." Upcoming heatwaves, storms and poorly developed power grids are unlikely to reduce the potential danger in any case