Austrian interior ministry and APG sign cooperation agreement on blackout prevention

On 27 September 2021, the Ministry of the Interior signed an agreement on blackout preparedness with Austrian Power Grid (APG).

This formalises the long-standing cooperation in the APG control centre. The cooperation agreement sets out the concrete procedure in the event of a blackout. While APG is responsible for a secure power supply and, in the worst case, for rebuilding the power grid, the police must continue to ensure the safety of the population in a crisis. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior (BMI), as the security ministry, must coordinate the authorities’ measures in crises and disasters.

“A blackout is one of the greatest threats to modern states. Without electricity, security of supply, transport, communication and – not least – public security are under threat. […] Our plans provide for the police to be able to hold out for 72 hours and to guarantee emergency operation for a further four days. The agreement with APG gives us a decisive information advantage in a crisis and ensures that communication between these key players does not break down.”

Karl Nehammer

BMI, Minister of the Interior

Planning games and crisis exercises

APG board members Gerhard Christiner and Thomas Karall struck the same note: “In the event of an imminent or actual blackout, this contract gives us, and therefore Austria, more security. It sets out the processes and procedures for a crisis. Key elements such as joint situation reports, crisis exercises and clear default behaviour are now formalised and written down. A clear crisis plan is an important step towards reacting correctly in a stressful situation, even though our staff practise emergencies very often in numerous crisis simulation trainings.”

APG is also involved in planning games and crisis exercises with the BMI. “In a crisis, it is about everyone involved knowing their contacts and what to do. A crisis-proof Austria in the event of a blackout is only possible with a BMI and a police force that can hold out,” the Minister of the Interior emphasised.

Among other things, the cooperation agreement covers:

• information exchange and crisis communication
• defining standardised procedures in the event of a blackout
• carrying out risk assessments
• producing situation reports
• joint exercises as well as training and further training
• state crisis and disaster management
• protection of critical infrastructure

Resilient BMI sites

Minister of the Interior Nehammer also gave an insight into the ministry’s preparations for a blackout. 100 police sites are to be developed into resilient – i.e. able to hold out – sites. These include the ministry itself and important headquarters such as the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Directorate for State Protection and Intelligence (DSN), the Cobra special unit, the provincial police directorates and the district police commands.

These sites will be made immune to a blackout so that operations can be maintained. This concerns, for example, the emergency power supply and the possibility of reduced building services. In addition, refuelling of the vehicle fleet and the emergency generators must be ensured. In a crisis, key police personnel are to be brought together at these sites.

In addition, the authorities and the operators of critical infrastructure such as APG can fall back on their own communication channel. “This is a radio link that we use in a crisis in addition to satellite phones. All of these are important building blocks for an Austria with secure supply and are therefore part of our project and investment plan of around 3.5 billion euros until 2032 for a sustainable and secure electricity system,” said APG board member Gerhard Christiner.

Blackout preparedness

• Blackout – Wenn plötzlich nichts mehr geht – Interviews with Herbert Saurugg
• „Nach der Krise ist vor der Krise – hoffentlich lernen wir gerade genug” 4Gamechangers 2021 – expert panel with Herbert Saurugg
• Blackout – Kein Plan für den Notfall – a ServusTV documentary well worth watching.
• Alle wollen importieren, nur niemand sagt, woher der Strom dann wirklich kommen soll … (Everyone wants to import, but nobody says where the electricity is actually supposed to come from)
• Wie vorbereitet sind deutsche Großstädte auf einen Blackout? (How prepared are German cities for a blackout?) – sobering
• Günseck für ein drohendes „Blackout” gerüstet – a model example of successful blackout preparedness!
• Wasserstoff als Notfall-Vorsorge: Energiezellenprojekt in Schladming (Hydrogen as emergency provision: energy cell project in Schladming) – a very interesting project, which unfortunately is also delayed due to current supply chain problems.
• Mit der Energiewende in den Blackout? – an MDR documentary well worth watching, which also covers the energy cell system in detail.
• Kärnten: Gemeinden erhalten „Leuchttürme” (Carinthia: municipalities get “lighthouses”) – another important step towards making municipalities crisis-fit.

Power supply system

• Europa auf dem Weg in die Katastrophe (Europe on the road to disaster) – a systemic look by Herbert Saurugg at the negative developments in the European power supply system that can lead to a blackout.
• Bericht Bundesrechnungshof „Umsetzung der Energiewende im Hinblick auf die Versorgungssicherheit” (German Federal Audit Office report on the energy transition and security of supply) – very critical results and hair-raising answers by way of justification.
• Hürden bei der Energiewende (Hurdles in the energy transition) – infrastructure is the most underestimated part of the energy transition.
• Stromabkommen EU-Schweiz (EU–Switzerland electricity agreement) – a very problematic situation with the potential to escalate at the technical level.
• Das Schweizer Stromnetz ist völlig ungenügend gegen Cyberangriffe geschützt (The Swiss power grid is completely inadequately protected against cyber attacks) – often only the lowest security level is reached, which is very worrying.
• A New, Deadly Risk for Cities in Summer: Power Failures During Heat Waves
• To Protect Electricity Operations from Increasing Cyber Threats
• Gier frisst Hirn und kann in die Katastrophe führen! (Greed eats brains and can lead to disaster!) – an insider story on the incidents in Germany in June 2019.
• Das deutsche Stromnetz ist so zuverlässig wie nie – wirklich? (Is the German power grid really more reliable than ever?) – the SAIDI value is unsuitable for assessing system security!

Crises / preparedness

• „Wir haben den Umgang mit Katastrophen verlernt” (We have forgotten how to deal with disasters) – a recommended interview with disaster researcher Martin Voss
• „Die nächsten 20 Jahre werden leichter für Menschen, die Unsicherheit aushalten können” (The next 20 years will be easier for people who can tolerate uncertainty) – a very interesting reflection.
• Weitreichende Infrastrukturausfälle und Störungen (Far-reaching infrastructure failures and disruptions) – collection of current events.
• Cyber-Angriffe auf Kritische Infrastrukturen (Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure) – collection of current events.
• Lieferkettenprobleme und -ausfälle (Supply chain problems and failures) – collection of current events.
• The Colonial Pipeline Hack Is a New Extreme for Ransomware
• „Weniger ist mehr” fällt schwer (“Less is more” is hard) – why we find it so hard to let go.
• Frankreich laut Experten unzureichend auf Atomunfall vorbereitet (France inadequately prepared for a nuclear accident, experts say)
• Wen rette ich – und wenn ja, wie viele? (Whom do I save – and if so, how many?) – a highly recommended risk-ethics reflection on triage / corona
• ENISA: Annual Incident Reports Telecom Sector – evaluation of outages in the telecommunications sector

For years I have been publishing extensive analyses of what happens in the event of a blackout on my website.

Since 2019, as part of our cooperation, my newsletters and blog posts have also been published here.

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