Summer temperatures are literally melting the obsolete energy infrastructure in Germany and Italy, one more piece of evidence of the folly of the EU “energy-transition” which pushed increased demand without building safe and abundant supply.
1. Total Paralysis of Rail Traffic In Germany—On Tuesday evening, all of the rail traffic in Germany came to a standstill due to a failure of the internal digital communication system. Traffic started up slowly again after midnight. The interruption provoked chaos in, among other places, Kiel, where the “Kieler Woche,” the largest summer festival in Northern Europe, was taking place. The Kieler Woche area suffered a blackout as well.
The increased stress on Germany’s obsolete energy infrastructure also took its toll in the world-renowned town of Baden-Baden, where three melting sockets in the underground E-network caused a general blackout on Monday.
2. Peak Demand Causes Blackouts In Italy—Since Monday, Turin and Milan, as well as other cities throughout Italy, have been hit by blackouts, which have lasted up to 15 hours in some districts. The electricity demand peaked to 500 MW in Turin, due to the increased use of air conditioners. 60% of Italian buildings have AC.
Local energy providers are scrambling by adding generators, but the blackouts continue. They are partly caused by insufficient supply and partly by overheating of (obsolete) transmission lines.
