VuK Newsletter #33

A sobering reality – at almost all events and discussions on the energy transition

it is assumed that in future, too, electricity will naturally come out of the socket whenever we need it. Hardly anyone, however, looks more closely at the physical relationships involved, or at the fact that there is no guarantee of this, even though the grid operators do their best every day to cope with what the market and politics cause.

In 2018, for example, the cost of congestion management in Austria reached a new record of 348 million euros – 174 times as much within six years! We are caught in a similar self-deception in other areas, too. The more deeply you look into the subject of preparedness, the more sobering the findings. Almost everywhere the essential basis is missing: preparedness in the family. Here, too, we take it for granted that others will prepare so that they can then help us. But doctors, nurses, firefighters or soldiers mostly have unprepared families too, who will then have priority.

We seem to be embarking on an evolutionary experiment: Are we fit enough to survive, as the title of Herbert Saurugg’s talk at TEDxDornbirn on 22 June puts it.

On Whit Saturday there was a new record of negative prices (German) on the German electricity market. For 19 hours the electricity price stood at –60 euros. In other words, large consumers were even paid to take electricity. This also means that 2019 has already seen more hours with negative prices (136) than the whole of last year (134). Only the previous record year, 2017, with 147 hours, has not yet been beaten.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE (German)

For years I have been publishing extensive analyses of what happens in the event of a blackout on my website. Now also in cooperation with GAIA: from now on, my newsletters will also be published here.

BLACKOUT CHECKLIST (German) MY WEBSITE (German)