On September 27, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer signed an agreement on blackout prevention together with the two board members of Austrian Power Grid (APG), Gerhard Christiner and Thomas Karall. Nehammer emphasized that a resilient police force guarantees a secure Austria.
The cooperation agreement regulates the specific procedure in the event of a blackout. While APG is responsible for ensuring a secure power supply and, in the worst-case scenario, for rebuilding the power grid, the police must continue to ensure the safety of the population in the event of a crisis. As the Ministry of Security, the BMI must also coordinate the measures taken by the authorities in the event of crises and disasters. “A blackout is one of the greatest threats to modern states. If there is no electricity, security of supply, transport, communication and – last but not least – public safety are threatened,” said Interior Minister Karl Nehammer at the signing of the contract. “Our plans envisage that the police will be able to hold out for 72 hours and ensure emergency operations for a further four days. The agreement with APG gives us a decisive information advantage in the event of a crisis and ensures that communication between these key players is not interrupted,” said Nehammer. https://militaeraktuell.at/oebh-zeigt-grosse-blackout-veranstalung-in-tulln/ Simulation games and crisis exercises
APG board members Gerhard Christiner and Thomas Karall echoed this sentiment: “In the event of an imminent or actual blackout, this agreement gives us and therefore Austria more security. It sets out the processes and procedures to be followed in the event of a crisis. Key points such as joint situation reports, crisis exercises and clear default behaviour are now formalized and written down. A clear crisis plan is an important step in reacting correctly in a stressful situation, even though our employees often practise emergency situations in numerous crisis simulation training sessions.” APG is also involved in simulation games and crisis exercises with the BMI. “In the event of a crisis, it is important that everyone involved knows who to contact and what to do. In the event of a blackout, Austria can only be crisis-proof if the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the police are able to cope,” emphasized the Minister of the Interior. The cooperation agreement regulates, among other things:
– Exchange of information and crisis communication
– Definition of standardized procedures in the event of a blackout
– Carrying out risk assessments
– Creation of situation reports
– Joint exercises as well as training and further education
– State crisis and disaster management
– Protection of critical infrastructure Resilient BMI locations
Interior Minister Nehammer also gave an insight into the preparations of the Ministry of the Interior in the event of a blackout. For example, 100 police locations are to be developed into resilient locations. These include the Ministry of the Interior itself as well as important headquarters such as the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence Service (DSN), Cobra, the provincial police directorates and the district police commands.
These locations are immunized against a blackout in order to maintain service operations. This applies, for example, to the emergency power supply and the possibility of reduced building services. In addition, refueling of the vehicle fleet and emergency power generators must be ensured. In the event of a crisis, key police personnel should be brought together at these locations. In addition, the authorities and operators of critical infrastructure such as APG can access their own communication channel. “This is a radio link that we use in addition to satellite telephones in the event of a crisis. These are all important building blocks for a secure supply in Austria and are therefore part of our project and investment plan of around 3.5 billion euros by 2032 for a sustainable and secure electricity system,” said APG CEO Gerhard Christiner.
