Not nationwide

Court of Audit: Austria lacks a blackout strategy

Austria's regional authorities have made preparations for a comprehensive power blackout. However, there is no national plan (symbolic image).

(Bild: P. Huber)

In the event of a blackout, Austria lacks a national plan for information and communication. This was criticized by the Austrian Court of Audit (ACA) in a report on Friday. The blackout plans of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense, the province of Styria and the municipality of Feldbach were examined.

It was found that the definition of a blackout differed from province to province. According to the Court of Audit (ACA), it should be distinguished from regional power outages or a power shortage. It is a supra-regional, sudden power outage followed by infrastructure and supply problems. For example, it is to be expected that familiar communication options such as cell phones or the Internet will be lost. The supply of everyday goods and people's mobility would also be restricted.

No standardized communication
The ACA reviewed the years 2018 to 2023. One of the findings is that individual measures had not yet been fully developed. Others had already been implemented or were at least well advanced. Blackout-relevant tasks and the personnel required for them had been defined at all levels. The Foreign Ministry, for example, stipulates that employees of certain organizational units must come to the headquarters in Vienna in the event of a blackout.

Internal communication within the authorities varied from province to province. The ACA recommends defining responsibilities and communication channels in advance so that no time is lost in a disaster situation. 

The town of Feldbach in Styria proved to be a pioneer in blackout preparations. These are scientifically supported and include, among other things, a secure fuel supply and the establishment of eleven emergency power supply self-help bases within walking distance. These measures are suitable for adapting to a blackout, the Court of Audit praised.

The entire report is available online.