Professor Florian Steinke, Principal Investigator at the research field E+E at the Technical University of Darmstadt, recently commented in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ/paywall) on the causes and possible preventative measures in connection with the recent blackout in Spain and Portugal. In the article, Steinke explains that the increasing dependence on renewable energies in combination with a lack of grid stability can increase the vulnerability of the European electricity grid.

Professor Matthias Hollick, Principal Investigator at the LOEWE Center emergenCITY, also warns of the danger of large-scale cyber attacks which, in combination with infrastructural weaknesses, could lead to widespread power outages. The LOEWE Centre emergenCITY is therefore focusing on the development of resilient, decentralized energy systems that rely in particular on renewable energies such as photovoltaics and battery storage.

Acts of sabotage are also increasingly coming into focus in Germany, as an incident in Albig, Rhineland-Palatinate, shows. Professor Jutta Hanson, Principal Investigator at E+E, warns of the risks of targeted attacks on electricity infrastructure in an interview on tagesschau.de. She points out the danger of targeted acts of sabotage, such as in the case of a power pylon that was sawed down in Albig, Rhineland-Palatinate. Hanson emphasizes that such attacks could significantly endanger the grid, as not every pylon can be monitored. In addition, unexpected current leaks could be life-threatening: “If just one conductor touches the ground, the grid may not shut down, and then there is a risk of a very large voltage spreading across the ground for someone who is still nearby.”