Renewables could reduce Germany’s fuel dependency during large-scale blackouts

The ongoing transformation of Germany’s energy system towards decentralised renewable power sources could reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuel reserves in the event of a major blackout, Peter Lauwe of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) told the Clean Energy Wire. “Emergency power could be increasingly provided by renewable sources”, Lauwe said at a BBK conference on an organisational reform of Germany’s fuel supply during large-scale blackouts. However, Lauwe added that replacing major fuel depots by wind and solar power installations as an emergency fallback required a sophisticated management of decentralised sources that so far does not exist. “But we are confident that this will change in the next years”, he said.

Note: The Clean Energy Wire will publish an article on this topic later today.

See the CLEW factsheet Germany's electricity grid stable amid energy transition for more information.