According to the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), a large proportion of companies in Germany complain about short-term power outages. This was shown by a random survey of 1,000 companies from various industries and regions, reports “Welt am Sonntag”, which had the survey results. Accordingly, 28 percent of the responding companies stated that they had been affected by power outages that lasted longer than three minutes last year. 42 percent reported power outages lasting less than three minutes.
Power outages of less than three minutes are not recorded by the Federal Network Agency, it said. However, power interruptions lasting just a few seconds can cause damage to precision industrial machines. “The problems extend across all levels of tension and inevitably lead to economic damage,” says the DIHK.
For a third (32 percent) of survey participants, the power outages caused additional costs of up to 10,000 euros. For 15 percent, the cost of such interruptions was between 10,000 and 100,000 euros. A small proportion (2 percent) even had costs of more than 100,000 euros.
According to the survey, the exact cause of the power outages is mostly unclear. Two thirds of companies do not find out the reason. The DIHK proposes a right to information about the causes of power outages and a revision of the compensation regulations.