Energy industry association considers major power outages to be “very unlikely”
Power lines in France
© AFP
Despite the ongoing energy crisis, the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) does not expect major power outages. “I think a blackout is very unlikely,” said BDEW chairwoman Kerstin Andreae of the “Augsburger Allgemeine” on Saturday.
It cannot be completely ruled out “that there could be situations in which regional shutdowns have to be made at short notice,” admitted Andreae. “However, that would not be a classic power outage, but a controlled, temporary intervention to stabilize the grids so that the supply is secured throughout Germany.”
Andreae was also confident about the gas supply. “Several variables have improved significantly – storage levels, gas imports from other countries, commissioning of the LNG terminals,” she told the newspaper. It can therefore be assumed “that we will get through the winter well if the weather is rather mild over the entire winter and if we continue to discipline ourselves to save money”.
The boss of the energy group RWE, Markus Krebber, told the “Rheinische Post” with regard to the gas supply: “Germany did everything that was possible, households and industry save gas. And October was so mild that the storage was hardly used . But that’s not the all-clear. We have no reserves.”
Krebber takes a slightly more positive view of the electricity situation. “Germany will export more electricity to France in winter than ever before,” he said. “The problems of the French nuclear power plants are also the reason why we have so many gas-fired power plants in operation. Nevertheless, I am reasonably optimistic that we will get through the winter well with electricity.” Krebber assured that “all the power plants that were available would be brought back online”.
At the same time, the RWE boss wants the debate on nuclear power in Germany to end. “The extension of the term until April was a political decision that I can understand,” he said. “Instead of continuing to discuss the topic, we should concentrate our energy on the question of which course settings are necessary in order to achieve a sustainable and modern energy supply in 2030. Four gigawatts of nuclear energy do not play a decisive role here.”
