The Bild newspaper reported Oct. 27 that the head of Germany’s Federal Civil Protection Corp. warned about a blackout risk for the entire state of Hessen. “The causes: the Energiewende ["energy transition,” Germany’s extreme no-nuclear Green New Deal—ed.]; extreme weather phenomena; and cyber-attacks to our electricity grid.” The grid is already inadequate and local blackouts are becoming more and more frequent. In Frankfurt, “especially data centers need two gigawatts [more power—ed.], equivalent to Berlin’s consumption,” says Andreas Berg, head of the Crisis Unit.
And in the United States, as in China earlier this year, coal supplies are in danger of running out and causing directed or even unintentional blackouts. The sudden run-up in natural gas prices, and the shortfalls of “interruptible” power supplies, have caused closed coal plants to be put back on line. Coal, from a low of 15% of U.S. electrical power in early 2020, is back up to more than 25% and rising as Winter comes on. Power plants are expected to burn 20% more coal this year than in 2020, according to Bloomberg News Oct. 27.
