How is the Risk of Blackout in Austria?

Even though a blackout in Austria cannot be completely ruled out, the risk is very low according to Christoph Schuh, spokesperson for Austrian Power Grid (APG). "Several unforeseen events would have to coincide," Schuh told APA. A power plant failure would not be a problem for the supply in any case.

APG Spokesperson Sees Very Low Blackout Risk in Austria

APG operates the supra-regional high-voltage network in the federal territory. This network consists of nearly 7,000 kilometers of power lines that supply Austria with electrical energy. Regional network operators such as Wiener Netze or Netz NÖ are then responsible for local distribution. The most important energy source is hydropower, but according to APG, wind power and photovoltaics have also been significantly expanded in recent years. The supply security is therefore at 99.99 percent.

According to Schuh, the n-1 principle applies to electricity supply in Austria. This ensures that the power grid remains stable even if a central operating resource - such as a power plant - fails unexpectedly. "The basic prerequisite of our operations management is that we must be able to deal with unforeseen crisis situations and not every singular event immediately leads to a blackout risk. A large-scale power outage can only occur if several unforeseen events occur in a close, temporal, and technical context," said Schuh. However, what does exist in Austria are regional interruptions of the power line, for example in alpine areas during the winter months.

Rapid Action by European Transmission System Operators

In the specific case on the Iberian Peninsula, the European transmission system operators acted quickly to avert the disaster. "If there is a large-scale disruption, the network connections are separated and the affected country is stabilized in island operation," explained Christian Schirmer from Netz NÖ.

Austria is prepared for large-scale disruptions and can also independently resume power supply in a decoupled state. In the event of a large-scale power outage, so-called black start-capable power plants are crucial. These power plants can start up independently without external power supply. Gradually, other facilities are then connected until the entire power grid is stably restored. Austria has several black start-capable power plants, such as the pumped storage power plant Kaprun in Salzburg.

Similar to Schuh, the CEO of Energie AG Oberösterreich, Leonhard Schitter, also commented on a possible blackout in this country. "I do not see this risk for Austria," Schitter said on Tuesday at the Club of Economic Journalists. "Of course, nothing can be ruled out, but we see ourselves well prepared to bring Austria back online in a short time." The domestic networks are "excellently" developed, Schitter added.

(APA/Red)

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