Berlin Mayor Sees Possible 2 To 3-Hour Power Cuts As Reasonable

Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey sees the shutdown of power in specific districts or areas for brief periods of time as a “justifiable” emergency measure to protect the power grid in an energy crisis.

“If you then have to go without electricity at certain points for two hours, for three hours, then that is a scenario that is justifiable,” Giffey said last week in an interview, as reported by Berliner Zeitung. “But it’s not something that’s urgent now.”

By saying it’s not urgent, Giffey is emphasizing that it’s a what-if scenario and not a certainty. It’s a scenario where gas and district heating would have failed, and people would need to turn to electricity for heating on top of their other day-to-day electricity consumption like using the washing machine and running the oven, thus potentially overloading the power infrastructure.

The senate made similar estimations, classifying the risk as “very low,” but said that in a worst-case situation where natural gas isn’t available, power grids would need to be shut down in certain areas for short periods of time. 

Energy Solidarity 

In September, Germany and France made a ‘European solidarity deal’ with Germany pledging to provide France with additional electricity when necessary, and France agreeing to assist Germany with gas supplies.

France made its first delivery of gas to Germany last week through a pipeline. The delivery, while amounting to just below 2% of Germany’s daily consumption, is an earnest move towards the diversification of the country’s energy sources.

Information for this briefing was found via Berliner Zeitung, the BBC, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.