(Berlin/Frankfurt a. M. Sept. 14, 2023) The power supply in Germany was particularly reliable in 2022: Consumers had to go without power for an average of only 10.6 minutes last year. This is the result of the new fault and availability statistics of the Forum Netztechnik/Netzbetrieb within VDE (VDE FNN). In 2021, customers were without power for an average of 12.1 minutes. Only in 2020 was the average power interruption duration, also known as unavailability, even shorter, at 10.2 minutes. Overall, the power supply in Germany remains one of the most reliable in the world.
Extreme weather conditions were exceptionally rare last year, so that disruptions to the power supply caused by them occurred only to a minor extent. Disruptions due to force majeure, such as those caused by extreme weather, are factored out of the average power interruption duration and recorded separately. Unavailability due to force majeure only amounted to 3.0 minutes in 2022. In contrast, 2021 was characterized by severe flooding in western and southwestern Germany. The power interruption duration due to force majeure or extreme weather conditions was therefore 9.2 minutes.
Conversion of the energy system to renewable energies: Grid operation becomes more demanding
The expansion of renewable energy continues to have no discernible impact on supply reliability in 2022. However, there has been an increase in the number of situations in which power grid operators have had to intervene to ensure the priority of renewable energy.
System stability is a crucial basis for a secure and reliable power supply. Due to the conversion of the energy system to renewable energies, grid utilization is increasing and the effort required to maintain grid and system security continues to rise. At the same time, grid expansion is being delayed. In the future, more intelligence and flexibility in the system, for example in the form of controllable consumption devices in the low voltage, should provide a remedy. In addition, this will make grid expansion more efficient and accelerate the energy, transport and heating transformation.
VDE FNN fault and availability statistics
The VDE FNN disturbance and availability statistics show how the quality of the power supply in Germany is developing. The statistics, which are published annually, are based on voluntary information provided by network operators on disturbances and availability of electricity. The data represent around 75 percent of the German power grid and cover all voltage levels. Further information on the key figures of the statistics is available on the VDE FNN website (German version). The detailed VDE FNN Fault and Availability Statistics 2022 will be available for purchase in November 2023.
