A new idea for how to compensate quickly and flexibly for fluctuations in the low-voltage network has emerged from Germany and Switzerland.
Two years ago, German magazine bild der wissenschaft named the energy thriller Blackout – Morgen ist es zu spät (Blackout – Tomorrow Is Too Late) the most exciting science book of the year. The sombre dystopia conjured up by Austrian author Marc Elsberg describes the catastrophic situation in Europe after a complete power failure. In Elsberg’s bestseller, the collapse of the power network is the result of a terrorist attack. “These horror scenarios sell well because they appeal to our darkest fears. But broadly speaking, our supply networks are not yet susceptible to blackouts of this kind,” Markus Müller, market developer at international plug connector manufacturer Multi-Contact, is convinced.
The increasing number of decentralised energy generators is bringing flux to our power network. This is why Müller is thinking of a solution that would allow network fluctuations and even partial network breakdowns to be balanced out: mobile batteries connected specifically to selected network hubs to compensate for voltage peaks and troughs.
“A global blackout is something for thriller writers, while guaranteeing stability of isolated networks
is very much a reality,” explains Müller.
Natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes make this all the clearer. If part of the power network is isolated from the main grid as a result of flooding, ice, or earthquake, thousands of households sometimes have to go without electricity for days on end.
