Firms lament recurring power interruptions.
In Germany, electricity doesn't just come with a hefty price tag, but also brings along unreliability for certain businesses. According to a survey conducted by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) that polled almost a thousand companies, the occurrence of power outages is causing trouble.
Nearly half of these companies experienced short-term power outages lasting less than three minutes, while about a quarter faced longer ones. It's important to note that not all this data is solely from the companies directly affected by power outages. Yet, it tells us that power interruptions are not scarce in the country.
Industry especially is having a tough time with these disruptions. A speaker from DIHK pointed out that more and more complaints are coming in because their processes, which can't tolerate any break, are constantly getting disturbed.
Financial repercussions of these outages can be significant. About a third of the respondents faced expenses of up to 10,000 euros due to these power failures, while 15% had to pay between 10,000 and 100,000 euros. Just 2% reported costs beyond 100,000 euros.
On a positive note, about half of these companies didn't have to deal with extra expenses due to these blackouts, likely owing to their existing preparedness measures. 7% introduced emergency generators, and 11% set up energy storage systems to protect against power fluctuations.
Cable damage and construction work were the most commonly identified factors behind these outages (13%). However, grid operators were also blamed by 11% of the participants. Other reasons like thunderstorms or grid fluctuations made up 8% and 3% respectively. Yet, around two-thirds of the respondents couldn't pinpoint the actual cause of the outages.
DIHK is pushing for a right to know the reasons behind these power failures and wants to revise the current compensation regulations. Their viewpoint is that without knowledge of the root cause, doubts regarding the reliability of the grids will linger. Dercks, the deputy DIHK managing director, suggested that the Federal Network Agency should randomly check on power outages of less than three minutes.
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Source: www.ntv.de
