“Precaution for the blackout”

Germany hosts about 120 generating units capable of a “black start”, meaning they will be available for repowering the grid from scratch in the event of a, so far unprecedented, major blackout, Anna Ringle writes in Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten. “Turbines are being serviced and maintained – although they produce no power for the market,” she explains, using the example of a gas plant near Berlin. The plant had been taken off the market as “its location was economically unviable”, Frank Mehlow of operator Leag explained. The reserve plant park’s provision cost about 219 million euros in 2015, which are passed on to consumers via grid fees, according to the Federal Grid Agency (BNetzA).

Read the article in German here.

For background, see the CLEW factsheets Germany's electricity grid stable amid energy transition and Power grid fees – unfair and opaque?