Tag
Blackout
2026
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"Germany completely lost without power" – which countries are best prepared for disasters
An international study examines how well countries are prepared for disasters such as blackouts and nuclear winters.
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Power grid at its limit: a blackout foretold?
Grid frequency, redispatch, dark doldrums: how wind and solar destabilise the power system – and why a blackout is no longer a taboo.
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First lessons from the Berlin power cut in January 2026
GfKV explains in brief: Berlin without power from 3 to 7 January 2026 – causes, consequences and lessons for resilience, crisis management and blackout preparedness.
2025
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Plus-energy house – blackout-proof thanks to sunflowers
Blackout-proof plus-energy house in Maria Ponsee: PV, power storage & vegetable-oil emergency power secure a sustainable energy supply.
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Blackout & Standstill in the Central Power Grid
The "local" blackout reflects the global reality: our ageing central power grids are no longer stable enough for the modern world. Only controllable decentralised energy can untie this knot for good.
2024
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Challenges in the Energy Supply System
As far as energy supply is concerned, the coming months are likely to bring further major challenges for the European electricity supply.
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The energy transition leads to blackouts and rising costs
Energy supply from sun and wind is unreliable and extremely expensive.
2023
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Weak point transmission grids: power failure in Mainz causes chaos
There was chaos in the streets of Mainz. The lights went out abruptly as the city sank into a blackout. The unexpected power cut was also a wake-up call.
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Society for Crisis Preparedness – newsletter #12
Underestimated consequences of a possible electricity shortage: although there are no concrete signs of 'brownouts' in the coming months, we want to point out their far-reaching and often underestimated consequences.
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Grid reserves completely exhausted
"Grid reserves exhausted […] physics strikes back […] a game of poker". APG: 110 million went into emergency measures by August, more than in 2022.
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Society for Crisis Preparedness – Newsletter #11
The focus of this newsletter is food supply after a blackout. We shed light on connections that we may not always be aware of in everyday life, because almost everything usually works smoothly anyway.
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Society for Crisis Preparedness – Newsletter #10
On 15 July 2023 the general assembly decided to change the name "Austrian Society for Crisis Preparedness", to extend our activities to the neighbouring countries Germany and Switzerland and to express this in the name "Society for Crisis Preparedness".
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Emergency food supply after a blackout
In many areas, blackout preparedness is still reduced to the duration of the power cut itself, which falls well short. A supra-regional power cut would immediately affect all production and logistics and cause lengthy restart problems – including for the food supply.
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Power cut at Europe's largest hospital
Despite its emergency power supply, the hospital was without electricity for around 3 hours. According to initial findings, a short circuit in a power distributor caused the outage at the Charité in Berlin.
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The energy transition cannot be achieved through self-deception
Austria is investing 600 million euros in expanding PV systems. But is that the right way? What many people are not aware of are simple physical relationships that could thwart the whole plan.
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GfKV Newsletter #09 – Society for Crisis Preparedness
Winter is not quite over yet, but the most critical phase has probably passed. In our last newsletter we encouraged you once again to make personal provisions for coming crises.
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50 Hz – how we avoid a blackout
The topic of blackouts has been on everyone's lips for months. What actually happens technically when Europe's power supply collapses and has to be rebuilt?
2022
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GfKV Newsletter #08 – Society for Crisis Preparedness
In our last GfKV newsletter #07 before Christmas 2021 we encouraged you to make personal provisions for coming crises, as a number of facts pointed to a critical development.
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Emergency supplies: food that stores well | QS24
Experts are warning more than ever to prepare for a sudden crisis and lay in emergency supplies. Marco Vonmoos shows how sprouts can help in an emergency.
2021
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GfKV newsletter #07 – please prepare now!
We actually did not want to send out another newsletter before Christmas. In view of current, worrying developments, we decided to send one with a core message: prepare now.
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Blackout – emergency power supply
Most people have now heard of blackouts. But what concrete options are there for supplying yourself with electricity if the grid fails for days? So far, only interested people know.
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Seven days without electricity – DOK1
Hanno Settele wants to find out: what happens if the whole country suddenly goes dark? For DOK 1 he plays through the emergency – a week of blackout.
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A blackout is very likely
Not "worrying in advance" but preparing well, says trainer Philipp Benda. Worry and fear are rarely good advisers in emergencies.
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Austrian interior ministry and APG sign cooperation agreement on blackout prevention
On 27 September 2021, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior signed an agreement on blackout preparedness with the grid operator Austrian Power Grid (APG).
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GfKV newsletter #06 – Society for Crisis Preparedness
Blackout preparedness has been in the Austrian media more often in recent months. Preparedness activities are increasing – but so are sobering findings on drinking water, livestock and gas supply.
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GfKV newsletter #05 – Society for Crisis Preparedness
Vulnerable power supply: "Guat is ganga, nix is g'scheh'n!" Further serious incidents on 17 May 2021 and 24 July 2021 – and why crisis preparedness is inadequate in many areas.
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Do "elites" announce a cyber blackout?
A future threat we should keep on our radar – especially when it is announced by the elites who also announced past "crises". The full article (German) is reserved for members.
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GfKV newsletter #04 – Society for Crisis Preparedness
We reported on the serious incident in the European interconnected grid on 8 January 2021 in GfKV newsletter #03. It has since emerged that the triggering event did not occur in Romania, as reported, but in Croatia.
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GfKV newsletter #03 – Society for Crisis Preparedness
On 8 January 2021, the European power grid split in two. GfKV newsletter #03 puts the incident into perspective.
