Director of the Energy Agency (Energistyrelsen), Kristoffer Bottzauw has informed the broadcaster The Danish Radio that Denmark might experience a shortfall of power for short periods during the winter. But the likelihood of power supply being cut to homes is low, he noted.
“This will be the very first time in long years that we’re in a situation in which we are actually looking at whether it is necessary (to shut off the power supply to homesin the area],” Bottzauw told DR.
“If we are now smacking into the very cold, harsh winter while the breeze is not brisk and at the same time which means we don’t get power from wind turbines, then we’ll be in a situation where we’re stressed in our power system” He said.
The current forecasts provided by the Energy Agency are that the scenario isn’t likely to be so severe that it could cause blackouts, however the chance of short blackouts has risen.
Authorities are usually able to tell an hour in advance when the demand is likely to outpace supply, allowing them to contact large industrial customers to lower their usage the consumption, the energy agency’s director said to DR.
If this plan fails the possibility of blackouts for customers who are private. The blackouts would last for up to two hours in small, isolated regions across the nation however, customers aren’t informed beforehand.
The blackouts could cause a disruption to 10 % to 20% of customers in 50% or the entire country of Denmark at any given at a time DR writes. The totality of the blackout may be one particular neighborhood or part of a larger city at a moment, Bottzauw said.
“If there’s an need to turn off the power then it will be the new areas that will be in the process,” he said.
While hospitals aren’t the only important buildings that aren’t protected from interruption of power, they are equipped with emergency supplies.
Bottzauw emphasized that power outages should only be considered as a last resort in an emergency situation in order to stop the whole system from collapsing.
Shut offs like this were described as unproven in the words of Brian Vad Mathiesen, professor of energy planning at Aalborg University.
“It’s extremely unlikely to imagine that we’ll find ourselves in this scenario. However, it is irresponsible to assume that authorities were not prepared if there was a need to accomplish,” Mathiesen said to DR.
“I anticipate power blackouts across Germany as well as France in certain areas , but I don’t believe it will be the case within Denmark,” he said.
He also said that “additional elements to create the ideal weather” are required to allow Denmark to be in a position in which a power outage to homes was needed.
“That could mean lots of energy usage across Norway, Sweden and Germany in addition to some power plants are experiencing outages in the region. This could mean that some countries could have issues with their power supply and could affect Denmark,” he said.