Power failure in Germany - Horror scenario or genuine possibility? | DW Documentary
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ส.ค. 2023
- The energy transition is one of the biggest challenges for politics and society in Germany. Germany wants green power from solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric generation to account for 80 per cent of its energy mix by 2030. Is this a realistic target?
Germany wants out of fossil fuels: no coal, no gas, no nuclear power plants. Instead, the country wants to commit fully to renewables. But does this bring with it the threat of a major power blackout? Germany is gradually realizing where the sticking points are. Take grid security: This is much easier to guarantee in a power network with just a few dozen large power stations than in a decentralized network with multiple small-scale electricity producers such as rooftops with solar panels or wind turbines. "It’s now a matter of having to intervene several times almost every day to guarantee grid security,” says the spokesperson for one major network operator. If grid security can no longer be maintained, the threat of a nationwide blackout suddenly becomes very real.
Another problem is reliability. Because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, there might be too little power available on particular days and at particular times of the year. This also raises the possibility of unforeseen power failures. One potential remedy could be power storage. There are many different ideas about how to securely store energy in order to bridge power gaps in the renewables’ supply: pumped-storage power plants, hydrogen storage, gigantic batteries. But, if these technologies exist at all, they do so only on a very small scale: Current storage capacity in Germany is 40 gigawatt hours - enough to supply the country for up to 60 minutes. And if there’s still no wind and the sun still isn’t shining? Does politics have a plan to provide Germany with sufficient energy to avert a potential blackout? These are some of the key questions explored by this documentary.
#documentary #dwdocumentary #blackout
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Turning off nuclear in this situation is completely misguided. They should have talked more about that. It's even more stupid to replace them with gas plant.
the severity of the problem regardless the country could be greatly reduced and at a lower overall costs if governments would help consumers put in heat pump systems for their homes. just one piece of the puzzle but at this time sans nuclear, there is no single fix.
@@mikenichols3849 most of grid opertator do it as well in north america at lest. Europe probably as well
Unfortunately, you guys yearn to run the most comprehensive nanny state in world history.
Just leave people ALONE!
@@mikenichols3849Heat pumps run on electricity - unless they're replacing resistive heating they will increase rather than decrease the demand for electricity...
When you listen to ecomist instead of engineer to solve an engineering problem, I know it will go nowhere.
Add in politicians.
You need a Gender Fluid Gender Studies Grad who identifies as an engineer and an Economist to weigh in just to be sure.
They set a time limit in the first place and push everyone else to fit in the agenda. As a result, before we can enjoy the benefit of renewable energy, we have to reap the bitter fruit of lack of energy.
Agree, the hype about hydrogen is a clear example. Also, no way for economists to step back and say "what we always told you about the magic benefits of growth was only the good half of the story"
That applies to everything to be honest, just look at E.U leaders, almost guaranteed 80% of our leaders come from economic backgrounds who don't understand the most simplest biological concepts.
The two most incompetent people in this program were the activist and the bureaucrat, precisely the two people who have the most say as to what happens. People need to have a real understanding of physics and engineering (or at least listen intently to those who do) before they make costly and bad decisions. Unfortunately I see this same situation in the US. I'm all for better energy sources, but it must be done intelligently and only as technology actually keeps pace.
Agree
Agreed, renewables and storage can work in small doses but at the grid scale they cause more environmental damage since they take much more mining and produce more toxic forever waste than fission power per base load kW-hr, even with recycling the bits they can at the end of life. Plus they only last a couple decades before having to replace thousands of hectares of equipment, fission plants are being used out to 80 years now. With fossil fuels the amount of money to be made is much higher in the long run so those in power love that aspect. Fission power is just for a population of people who actually know the science and won't get spooked by flashy media headlines and fossil fuel industry funded propaganda.
You can differentiate who uses empty phrases and who uses numbers and can count. Even the veterinary was able to estimate how much money he would loose in case of blackout.
Germans are having Green-transophobia.
Yup, the people with ZERO technical training are redesigning the electric grid, based on a Net Zero fantasy.
Meanwhile, the engineers are telling them that it won't work, but they refuse to listen.
If you replace every mention of the words "German" and "Germany" in this documentary with "British" and "Britain" then you'll have another accurate documentary about what is happening/not happening here in the UK. 🤔
You only have the left wing to blame there as well. They are destroying Europe
True… this winter coming will be the worst ever for the uk
Some are missing the good old smog and black carpets during winter.
@@tazdingo5297 Haha. Because things are so much better in the E.U?
This video is about the collapse of an E.U. member state -- you do realize that?
@@tazdingo5297 Like Germany is? They would be in an even better state if they ignored the sanctions and bought cheap Russian gas.
It's not as if China, India, Japan, or America follow sanctions. We left Russian uranium off of the sanction list because we in America need it.
Sanctions are for vassals.
Nuclear power is the most climate friendly green energy we have today, it's the only source that can also meet high demand at low costs.
@@user-ex9ex2hs5k I guess Kazhakstan, Canada, Australia Uzbekestan, Russia the top producers are all in Africa?😁
@@user-ex9ex2hs5k That's not true, the majority of raw Uranium comes from Asia / Australia / Canada; and all the fuel pellet & rod assembly is in Europe / North America / Asia.
One country (Niger) supplying ⅛ of France's uranium imports is practically nothing on the global scale.
Wrong, Uranium is less than 1% of running a nuclear plant. It’s the building and fuel manufacture that’s costs.
@@dalel3608 You don't have to go to an actual market if you can oppress and loot a country's minerals.
@@user-ex9ex2hs5k No they have to buy, no more oppression and plundering. Africa has had enough.
12:02 I don't know about the other countries but in the Netherlands prices have been way higher then displayed since the war.
in the worse case scenario the netherlands will re open its gas supply. so everything will be allright no matter what.
The price of electricity per country index as of April 2023...indicates that
Germany is third out of twenty eight countries...
The Netherlands is sixth...
We are sixteenth...
🇿🇦
I don't think prices displayed are consumer prices...
Germany should not only not shutdown their nuclear reactors, they should build more and make nuclear their main source of electricity generation!
Too much money and special interest groups are against it unfortunately. They only want to plan for today and don't want to invest in tomorrow. Renewables and storage cause more environmental damage since they take much more mining and produce more toxic forever waste than fission power per base load kW-hr, even with recycling the bits they can at the end of life. With fossil fuels the amount of money to be made is much higher in the long run so those in power love that aspect. Fission power is just for a population of people who actually know the science and won't get spooked by flashy media headlines and fossil fuel industry funded propaganda.
@@anydaynow01 "against it unfortunately"
Then people will lose jobs and freeze and die in the dark, unfortunately.
Nuclear plants produce a lot of Uranium waste and chemical waste. we need to focus on cleanup the Earth Ocean and rivers.
You sound like Elon Musk. He said much the same thing in a German TV interview last year.
@@glynnec2008 Musk also had no effect. the anti nuclear Pied Piper has them all
Oh no 😮! If only we had a proven power technology that is neither carbon emitter nor weather dependent.
And were willing to USE it!
Well the media is doing a great job of pretending it doesn't exist. *Nuclear*. This long DW docu doesn't mention the world once, not by narrators not any of the the many speakers either realist or delusional nuts. Its like it was prevented by some kind of hate speech law.
@@zxzz593 There is no significant geothermal Germany. Might as we’ll say “cold fusion? “. Like hydrogen and other nonsense, you can find toy projects getting grant paydays. Nothing to run a country on. Germany needs to restart its nuclear.
Germany should do just the obvious thing, reactivate it's own nuclear energy power plants at least until the energy transition is mature to go on it's own. Nuclear in the short terms seems the best alternative for the moment.
we support Green Party !! we don't need nuclear Energy !!
In Ireland last year I heard a radio documentary where a prominent Green Party politician did not rule out an adoption of nuclear power in a country which is very anti nuclear power and does not have any nuclear power on the entire island at the moment. I was gob-smacked. The attraction of CO2 free power, no matter where from, was a big attraction to this green politician, although he was quick to warn that this move would be very expensive.
It is going to come down to demand reduction at user level. The humble LED light works at 4w in contrast to the 60-100W of old incandescent lights. Similar demand reduction will be needed in other appliances and consumers of electricity.
And criminalize talking against nuclear!
America allowed to do that?
Very difficult and expensive thing to do with a mothballed or decommissioned plant. The issue is any fuel was removed and condemned as spent fuel. Before the replacement fuel is added every last centimeter of the nuclear power plant has to be carefully inspected, all systems inspected and upgraded. Replacement fuel costs much more than gold. You are looking at at least a year or more and nearly half a billion dollars. Nuclear power is very expensive to get started or brought back from mothball.
Irony is wind turbines and solar panels are not ecologically friendly. Sourcing the materials and rare earths, building, installation, maintenance, disposal, batteries, cabling.
I used to hear that wild life is also endangered.
I can't help but think of all those natural resources wasted in wars...
Human nature, German plan to double it's defense budget.
Well, I don't blame them for being a bit nervous but defense is quite different from offense. @@oemcargps
Anyone who has played "Red Alert" knows that power plants are the most important thing. No industry without electricity
>
Industry will move to the Third World and use the fossil fuels the West is no longer monopolizing.
Those who insist upon playing the game of Climate Hysteria will depend upon renewable power. They will use renewable power when it's available, and when it is not----- DO WITHOUT.
China is already an example of that. For example, the United States not so many decades ago produced more than half the steel in the world. Environmentalists found the pollution that produced unacceptable, and shut down most steel production in the United States. That didn't stop pollution though ---it just moved it to China, which today produces more than half the steel in the world, and TWELVE TIMES the steel produced in the United States.
The same thing which caused the migration of industries for reasons of pollution is now causing industries to migrate to the Third World so they can continue to produce the goods HUMANITY needs and desires to use.
Yup. Protect them at all costs.
No civilisation without electricity or energy. With local installed nucleair power of the latest technology, we could fill all our needs at minimal cost and keep our way of living.
Why blow it up when you can convince everyone that it's bad for them? Plus scam them with green projects that messes up land etc too
Did not expect Germany to be so dumb, no technology to counter this energy shortage at all. However good thing is media has reported this problem, it is a good thing after all, to solve a problem one has to admit it exists.
Just goes to show how much of a negative impact a few dedicated and misinformed activists can have in an entire country
Yeah, but I'm being told by Germans on twitter that this DW vid is blocked within Germany, so while we all hear about it only the Germans with workarounds will be able to view it.
Guess that gov minister didn't like what the other people were saying in contrast to gov policy.
Russia was actively rooting for closing of nuclear reactors, it gave the Russian gas industry more leverage over Germany. They worked to influence opinions towards this side
Eh media did not really report the problem. The word nuclear was not mentioned, at all, anywhere in the film, right after Germany finished closing 17 excellent nuclear plants. Its like some Grimm's fairy tale about a march of the fools.
They have become dumb by following US.
Nuclear could have plugged that "Assured Capacity" and once energy storage tech advances it could also act as that. Purely renewable like solar, wind heck even geothermal and hydro also has it's own uncertainties. That's why a combination of Nuclear and renewables is always the way to GO IMO plus energy storage once it's viable.
U.S. has more power outages than all other developed countries.
>
Washington State for decades has mostly generated electricity from massive dams on the Columbia, Snake and other Rivers. But this is NOT renewable power! Environmentalists got the Washington State legislature to pass a law declaring that only solar and wind were renewable power ----hydroelectric power is not renewable power in Washington State!
Now with all that wind and solar power environmentalists have caused to be constructed, you'd think that all those hydroelectric dams would come in handy to provide power when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. Non fossil fuel power ALREADY BUILT many decades ago and costing very little to operate! What could be better?
Well, almost anything if you listen to environmentalists. They are busily working to get major hydroelectric dams dug up and rendered useless.
It's a marvel to see the hutzpah.
@@SeattlePioneerThey're actively trying to demolish hydroelectric power stations on the Snake River.
"once it's viable...." 🤔
Just when might that be? 🤷♀️
Wishful thinking is not science.
Of course environmentalists don't want to wait for a technology to prove itself to be viable, or superior and to be adopted voluntarily by people, the way the internal combustion engine replaced the horse over a period of a few decades.
They want to use government to force their agenda on society no matter how much it costs, whether it works or not. And they YEARN to destroy existing technologies they despise, such as nuclear power, hydroelectric power and fossil fuels. They want to WASTE all the valuable infrastructure and require society to buy ALL NEW infrastructure, regardless of the price.
That's why CLIMATE HYSTERIA and exaggerated claims of imminent human destruction are a key feature of the climate change debate. Hate and fear are the cornerstones of the political action they want to provoke.
I was recently in a natural disaster where the power supply was knocked out for two weeks. What I remember most was the helicopters flying overhead all night to deter thieves. Communities were also having to form protective networks and man roadblocks to restrict entry.
Besides the lack of replenishing day to day necessities, very high crime is the effect of a blackout.
Watching too many American Hollywood films? 😂
The US must love this. Imagine managing to bring down your biggest competitor in Europe by simply telling them what to do to collapse
What are you talking about? transition of energy means you have both and slowly lower one while raising the other, no one told Germany to go wack a dooodle and shut down their plants, that's all on them..
Don't know where you're getting your info.
The US isn't telling Germany much except not to buy from Russia. Early in the Ukraine war, Biden tried to persuade Saudi Arabia to increase production to offset the global loss of Russian oil not because the US needs the oil but on behalf of places like Europe.
The US isn't telling Germany to invest in China's failing economy which is what German businesses including automakers are doing today.
The US isn't telling Germany to not spend on domestic energy infrastructure (that I know of) but Germany continues to ignore this essential building block for the future.
And I don't think that the US bears any animus towards Germany. The US allows Germany to do what it does on its own as long as it's legal.
@deloughi1887, It was not Germany who shut down nordstream.
It was they who now sells lng for 6x the normal price.
But you are right, they shut down neuclear plants, no one knows why, order from above?
@@Daniel-gc9ws Nobody mentioned nordstream but you, are you ok.
Hay, we never told you guys to decommission your nuclear plants and become reliant on Russia. In fact I recall several of our presidents begging you NOT to become dependent on Russia.
But all that said, we're absolutely going to take advantage, why not? The LNG price is really a short term issue, the big issue is going to be electric costs. Why keep paying .35 $/kwhr when you could just move those factories here and spend .06 $/kwhr, and also pay lower tax, with fewer regulations?
Negotiating energy supply with Russia would enhance reliability. Be prepared to pay in rubbles...
Summer 2022: Sanctions on Russia imposed
Summer 2023: Power failure in Germany
**Heydrich laughed.**
**Nuclear closed**
Closing functional nuclear power plants was a BIG mistake. Not only about the energy was generated who was lost but they lost a lot of high pay engineer jobs.
They lost competence in the nuclear area. Crazy.
Germany is more busy playing geopolitical games than solving their domestic problems.
And enhancing the lie of the fabricated virus by the European union.
They sacrificing thr people for Ukrainian government
They have to follow their American boss
For nuclear energy, you have to depend on Russia. Doomsday is coming. Ukraine will destroy all EU and Western allies.
The question is how the american boss is actually keeping it being such for dozens of countries, have they mastered some black magic or what? Cause they work against the interests of their "allies", too.
Quote “Germany needs another 50% electricity”
Rubbish - if Germany goes all electric, it will need 3x the electrical generation. And perhaps 4x the electrical generation, if heat pumps don’t work as advertised.
R
The problem of renewable agenda is it's easier said than done and the necessary infrastructure lags far behind its need. As covered in this documentary, a host of massive power batteries and high voltage transmission lines need to be constructed with reliable building expertise, which however, is nothing near the status quo.
@@SeattlePioneer And I seriously doubt any efforts to slash emission of CO2 would be to real avail. It is all very well to cut your own emission, but you can't ask developing countries like China, India or Russia to cut as well. The CO2 emitted by China surpasses that by G7 combined. Most likely rising sea level and extreme weather is inevitable. So rather than dismantle traditional energy plants in a hurry, it's much more prudent to maintain the old and gradually introduce the new, plus seriously consider to relocate people from unlivable area to more livable one. The inexplicable haste with which politicians push forward renewable energy makes me even doubt whether they have invested a lot in renewable energy companies.
That's cause it's designed to stall everyone, make them poorer. Easier to control.
Dude massive battery technology does not exit.
I agree. That's why I never said they did.
I watched a video yesterday by DW stating Germany is now 100% not depending on Russian gas lol
They’re hoping the citizens can’t put 2 and 2 together.
It would be surprising since as amasing as it may sound, we're at this very moment *still* importing Russian gas though Ukraine.
@@jmdespgermany gets it gas from Norway, Netherlands, USA and the middle east...
@@talijahtalijah1258but high price it is not sustainable
@@talijahtalijah1258 the most expensive gas + shipping fees + lower quality. Seems very profitable to Germany 🇩🇪
South Africa we experience loadsheddin every day twice a day, 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon or evening
We can only dream of prices that low in the UK! Electricity is around 50 euro cents per kilowatt hour currently. Plus we have to pay a standing rate charge per day of about 60 euro cents. People are experiencing power poverty over here.
Build new nuclear power plants. That is the best way.
That sounds terrible. How long can that go on until society busts into pieces?
@@ianhomerpura8937it takes a while when you have to start back from scratch like UK after stopping all new construction. But the nuclear plants that UK has *now* were also considered too expensive and too delayed when they were constructed ! People that attack nuclear on that forget that we'll still need power 40 or 60 years from now, and we'll still be able to use then the nuclear npp we build now. So the one that sound expensive today will be cheap then, like UKs current reactors that are cheap now were seen as expensive when they were built.
The £200 billion that the UK government has so far wasted on wind power has to be repaid somehow. They're doing it through mostly hidden taxes and surcharges that end up being added to the retail price of electricity.
If only there were power plants capable of produce a lot of gigawatt of clean energy. Oh, wait, there are! They are called nuclear powerplants.
You have no good understanding of nuclear power. France energy security is going to face threat if care is not taken. Nuclear power is not a renewable power.
I have said clean energy, not renewable energy. Big difference.
As for France are you talking about the political situation of Niger (from which France was already starting to decrease her import), or something else?@@youme1414
@@youme1414 and coal is , right
@@10000years I never said coal is either. You are using false equivalence to make your point.
@@youme1414 I didn’t make any point, my green Teutonic friend. I was asking you if coal is sustainable for your fatherland.
Nuclear is the only solution, otherwise it is not possible for us but that is what is out of option now for Germany. Definitely, it is uncertain times ahead. Planning and execution efficiency is very terrible in Germany, we have all faced construction site on expressway being worked for months to years for small patch or length. After Covid, almost everything is dead slow. German government need to overwork and have future oversight that is feasible, not just idealistic.
Oh smart guy come and find us some uranium
@@resiliencewithin if you think finding uranium is a problem than you know nothing about nuclear power plants.
Yeah, like Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan. Shit, in the 70 s the DDR was the largest producer in the world, you just stopped mining cause there were cheaper open pit alternatives. Its still in the ground under Germany! @@resiliencewithin
@@lukacsnemeth1652no recent German would like to go mining for uranium, even if his grandmother is freezing, but he will think of the next plundering of eastern Europe with pleasure if this would give him the needed resources...
@@rossengeorgiew9589 But why? Nuclear is safer, cleaner, cheaper. It's better in almost every way.
Germany's 'green' path to oblivion, with extended and widespread blackouts within a few years, will hopefully be a wakeup call to the rest of the developed world that technology isn't yet close to being at the point where we can feasibly dispense with widespread use of fossil fuels. Breakthrough technologies in terms of power generation, batteries and carbon capture are needed before that can happen.
Did the blackout happen in Germany ?? This is surprising.
The issue is without a green path, it won't be long before we poison and boil this planet.
The keyword in your comment is “Breakthrough technologies “. There’s a super wind machine concept out there that promises to deliver hundreds of megawatts per machine.. It’s like a giant electric motor with its own integrated wind turbines…
If you believe this is due to green energy then I would suggest you look closer. Energy is the tool used to destabilize nations. So node stream was blown up by our Nato chief commander in the USA. Awesome.
@@swt-gdesign1859I live in Texas and turbines are not as reliable as fossil fuels.
Electrical Engineer here
At the 8-minute mark you were saying that frequency will go out of synchronization if you are using solar panels and/or wind turbines. This is in the case of solar panels it takes DC direct current from solar panels goes to a device called a power inverter and same is true for wind turbines that converts wild AC alternating current to DC direct current then goes to a device called a power inverter. The power inverter will take DC direct current and convert electric power into synchronized 50 or 60 hertz electric power. These power inverters frequency is synchronized to an atomic clock that means regardless of electric power load frequency its always in synchronized to an atomic clock. Electric power from wind turbines and solar panels are much more stable regardless of demand. However, electric power from natural gas, coal thermal plants, geothermal energy, and hydroelectric power plants line frequency will change according to power demand. It is required to throttle the generators up and down to keep line frequency in syncronization. 100% Green energy for Europe is not possible otherwise Europe's economy will collapse. If Europe's were to go and buildout the maximum wind power both offshore and onshore and solar panels, it will only supply about 50% of Europe's electric power needs. The greenies are ignoring the fact that new coal fired power plants and natural gas power plants produce no pollution at all. The exhaust from these power plants is pumped into water tanks and the only exhaust is steam.
Its rather sad to see Germany decommissioned nuclear plants despite the now rather difficult over-reliance on coal / oil-gas which of course they cant seem to kick the unfortunately harmful / precariously uncertain habbit.
it was pure insanity....Cuz so called green technolegy are not green if you imput the cost of mining the resources needit for so called green tech....the only green tec is nucliar...if they where better designed it would even be able to swap out the boilers and not have to rebuild the concrete shelter...
They'll get used to it. With love from South Africa.
I love the parachute analogy at 6:54, savage lmao
Thanks dw for reminding me to top up my diesel storage tank...
And so it goes on one thing after this, what next. They can't see the folly😮. Not knowing the way out, a great shame to humanity.
Never heard the term “assured capacity” before. Everywhere in the world uses capacity factor for what they’re trying to describe…
How long do generators provide energy before they need to be charged?
This is a genuine possibility for most countries.
Fact: Each EU country already has preplanned scheduled shutdown of electricity grids available. Citizens can even check these to learn which cities will go down first !
The South African energy minister Gwede Mantashe said “you will be in the dark breathing clean air”, don’t rush renewables if they don’t match or exceed older technologies. Yes I understand and support everything green but if people are to be in the dark because of it then it won’t make any sense at least for those who don’t get the electricity they are used to getting. It’s funny that Germany closed its Nuclear power plants but now they are on some power cuts, that one is kak funny in a stupid way.
Its like a free man willingly putting on handcuffs and walking into jail. The Ukraine did a similar thing when it surrendered its nuclear arsenal on the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. That went well. Nobody will even consider invading or attacking the UK or France precisely because they have nuclear capability and they have no intention of giving them up. You could say the same about China, India and Pakistan. No one knows if Israel has nuclear capability but no one wants to find out.
There was a time when I was anti nuclear but I have changed my mind completely when I see how comfortable France is in the current energy crunch and how bad things are going in Germany and the UK.
From a defence perspective Russian would not have dared invade or screw up Ukraine if that country had retained a nuclear capability.
Giving that up was like going gun free in a room full of homicidal psychopaths.
nice doc, just a few small remarks. Especially in this contexts one should distinguish power and elektricity and not use it as the same. Secondly, We get that one should import power from places which have an abundance, but who says that is has to be in the form of hydrogen? Is it more efficient than a high voltage DC line? is it better than synthesized fuels? I would have liked more information on this
Stev,
who has an abundance of power to supply other countries who have chosen an ineffrective and unreliable source of power?
I read one time that hydrogen is notoriously difficult to store. The airships of the 1930's leaked a lot and they had to have gasbags made from cows intestines or some other exotic material. I wonder what kind of containment and what enormous pressures will be needed to store Hydrogen in the future and will it be feasible in mobile applications such as cars, trucks and busses? What kind of high pressure tanks will be needed for such vehicles and what will they weigh?
How will a customer fill these tanks in a practical and convenient way?
Electric cars are now facing a pushback due to range anxiety, difficulty and expense in public charging, lack of charging infrastructure, abuse of charging spaces, either by overstaying or spaces being taken by ICE vehicles, vandalism and malicious unplugging of charging vehicles by jealous people and overcharging for electricity so that in many cases long journeys are cheaper to do by a petrol car than by the much vaunted and ballyhooed electric cars.
I am currently keeping a diary about long journeys I take so as to get an idea of how often I would find electric cars impractical in my life. I remain to be convinced as to the practicality and attractiveness of electric cars unless the charging infrastructure improves dramatically.
Layered decentralisation - local energy production-storage-consumption. Use the national grid just for large industrial electricity users and to balance the local grids. If you loose a node the rest can still function.
AI smiled. What one robot learns, all robots learn.
a coal power plant in each city
@@gigiduru125With the waste heat being used to heat buildings and water and drive absorption air conditioning.
Why did you guys shut down your nuclear power plants without considering the risks of facing supply shortages?
This is Merkel's fault. She should have listened to Jim Hansen (retired NASA scientist) and kept the nuclear power stations going. See under: France, just next-door. The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan was the result of careless siting of the backup generators (uncharacteristically, they had put them on the ground floor -- in a known tsunami-prone region). The only solution now is storage, but there are many options (phase change, gravity, compressed air, inertial, flow batteries, li-ion and other batteries with novel chemistries like iron-air). Germany has always been a technologically-advanced country with a truly excellent engineering base. Hopefully, it will achieve sufficient storage. Either that, or bring the reactors back online.
Finally, the only reasonable person here. Merkel single handedly destroyed the EU and put Germany on edge.
you obviously don't comprehend the scale of this needed storage. We are not just talking about daily energy needs, but seasonal timelines lasting weeks and months. Even at the current average consumption of 50GW, the resulting energy storage for just one day is 1200GWh. That's about global yearly lithium production. Germany would need several WEEKS worth of storage. All this is assuming perfect storage energy efficiency. Most of the other systems you mentioned barely break 60% efficiency.
Would love to see it! 🙏🏻
Prepare people… this isn’t news this is a forecast..
Exactly
My country south east asian don't have blackout because lack of electricity
I forgot the feels gets 😅
Stopping excessive waste and over consumption might help..
No, electricity demand will grow up a lot
We currently going through this blackout phases but we have a app that tell us when electricity is going to go off
why is this video blocked in Germany?
The biggest weakness of Germany is that it is too dependent on imported natural gas from Russia, while Spain and Italy are energy-sufficient countries, thanks to having their own electric grids from solar and wind power that are independent from northern Europe.
It's over ...no more Russian gas.... You're not up to date I guess...
Problem solved! What's the complaint about?
The biggest weakness for Germany in this area is that it depends on politics instead of engineers for it's energy policy. Like how Japan came seemingly from nowhere to be a major player, countries like China and India might overtake Germany in most areas that rely on energy output and dependability.
Spain and Italy get their gas from Algeria lol
Obviously it isn't a solved problem if germany will face blackouts.@@TheOne30264
I am from South Africa. This happens several times every day.
😂😂😂😂
Not a total blackout, of which you can't even go visit your friend across town and boom you have access to electricity. Unless of course you are an introvert with only friends in the same one km radius as you are in.
Mitchell's Plain and Lower Crossroad is near by so i just walk to my friends there, boom i am charging if i missed doing so and watching television.
South Africa's per capita GDP is declining right along with their power reliability.
@@gregorymalchuk272
😂😂🤣🤣😂😂so is Germany's though🤣🤣🤣🤣
There is a silent economic crisis going on worldwide, Britain is seeing it, South Africa is seeing it, France, The USA, China, Russia, Egypt, and more.
You guys are just watching media obsessed with distracting you with the war in Ukraine for democracy, and the Aliens that have been discovered 🤣🤣🤣😂😂
In South Africa bread is still cheaper than in Germany, so is everything else. Germany just looks far more industrial, thanks to the colonies they once had and the abundance of printed dollars with no consequence😄
So yeah...
Many countries in the world have black outs, not just south africa. I know countries without electricity for 80% of the time
There has never been a total blackout in S. Africa, don't lie. 😂
The older guy that u interviewed first is so cool. Love his humor
Here in South Africa we have 12 hours a day no power.
The words of Dr. Thomas Sowell are ringing in my ears: "In life there are no solutions, only options (trade-offs)." I'll put my faith in the engineers and not in the "IT Specialist" (consumer) out to save "the planet". Lastly; If you think energy is expensive then how much would it cost if you couldn't get it? Cheers.
I used to smile at a sign put up in the training department in a place where I worked. "If you think training is expensive, try ignorance." So very true in the light of recent developments and some, not all, Green policies.
This problem is something that is going on in many European countries. Telling that one of the solutions could be get it from the neighbors is hypocrite. Last winter when we all needed to save energy, Belgium exported a lot of electricity to Germany, with the result that we needed to pay extreme prices. This summer the same with the heat wave in France, Other countries are also paying the price of this 'green revolution' that al sounds great on paper but atm we lack the technology and the money to complete this utopia.
here in denmark there has just been 3-4 days where power cost is 0.02 euro per KWH, there is somthing very fishy about all this
As nuclear waste from meltdown can be filtered to be "completely safe", what's there to be worried about going full throttle into nuclear power?
Oh no but I thought wind and solar are very cheap and reliable 😂
I think DW is a terrific channel. I love your documentaries. I live in California and have been to Germany many many times, especially in winter. This is sadly hilarious. Germany needs to learn from California and Texas foolishness. If Germany keeps this up they will do worse than we do when they are such a great country of great people and minds. Taking their nuclear off line. I cant stop laughing at the far-sided thinking to energy management. Maybe its better to chop the Black Forest down.... Thank you for all the great videos.
it was a whole movement to gather against the nuclear power... people in germany tend to fall for propaganda, especially if they like to show off their "solidarity"
It would be better to just cut ties with amerikens, after they sabotaged the Nord Stream 2 would be the most plausible thing to do, but given Germany is still an ameriken colony I find it hard for them to do so. Maybe China can help liberate Germany from ameriken influence.
Yes
It is a great country with great minds.
The idea of shutting down of nuclear plants prematuredly was that lady Merkels idea who turned arrogant in her last few years in office
California foolishness?
In what way?
Despite California's enormous energy appetite, currently approximately 27% of its energy is sourced Green. For unknown reasons, practically no electrical storage exists and as much as 40% of all solar related generation is wasted (Every day for hours before the business day demand starts, solar panels generate electricity in California that is unusable due to being on the West Coast of the US).
Today, California is on track in its plan to transition to Green and could probably already handle projected 2030 needs including a possible jump in EVs on the road if more efficient transmission and storage solutions were implemented. For now though, it probably doesn't make sense to transition any faster if the populace is still using fossil fuels like combustion engine vehicles and aircraft that have few options to jet fuel.
And, the miraculous drought-busting storms California had this year that filled up all its major reservoirs likely means an unexpected contribution of hydroelectric power for at least a couple years not seen in more than a decade.
California generates or receives Green energy from practically all sources... From wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, practically every means other countries are considering. And no, nuclear is not something California supports. It's still in the middle of the multi-year (becoming multi decade) process of shutting down its San Onofre nuclear power plant and intends to shut down Diablo Canyon ASAP. Anyone who supports nuclear ignores the costs and problems associated with nuclear waste disposal.
If anything, California should be a model for countries to inspect for evaluating how and how fast to transition to Green in a sensible way.
Why is there only 1 reply showing, when it says it has 4?
Anyone know what is going on? I see this quiet a bit these days!
We have battery backup now, and have known about micro grids fro many decades. We have 2 parallel systems, a huge centralized grid, and a bunch of decentralized personal generators that require a centralized petrol industry.
Nobody has “battery backup” at the national level, nowhere in the world. That’s a store window game. There’s no utility scale battery facility that can backup a middling 500 MW power source for a full day. Not one.
Sorry, I never used a power generator before --- how people living in apartment use portable power generator? What kind of fuel? How to release the exhaust gas?
Germany needs structural reform in how it deals with these vulnerabilities in the system. With existing system inefficiencies and slow bureaucratic processes this only stifles transformational change and as businesses seem only to focus on tasks and not outcomes the ability to have a different mindset is impossible in the near future.
I cannot believe this is happening in Germany!😮
That's where following US leads you... Buy LNG that cost 4 times more expensive.
It is unbelievable. I used to travel to Germany three times and think Germany is one of the world most developed countries. In China, we rarely face the power failure since 2010 . China power supply is quite stable.
Lots of people knew and warned about this years ago, but the goverment never listened, they were more preocupied to look enviromentaly friendly and green that actually found good solutions, i'm not against renewables i like them, but also i undertand their limitations and problems, so i hava always said the teh ebst solution is a combination of Nuclear or Hydro and renewables.
I find it fascinating that people think there will be fuel left to buy for their generators when the electricity goes out..🤯
though not common at this time there is tidal power which is renewable. that said imho they shouldn't have shutdown their nuclear power plants when they did. that is before having a solution to the issue of 24/7/365 renewable power supply sources.
as for gas powered generators where we live in the mountains at 9000' or 2740 meters in elevation. the generator will power our entire household. however what many who've never had generators before, they often don't consider fuel. first off gas or petrol stations require power to pump. if you don't have gasoline stored prior to a blackout your generator is little more than an oversized paper weight. in our case to run the generator 24 hours requires approximately 6-7 gallons or 23-27 liters of fuel. we live in a rural area with lots of space for storage. but even with that we cannot store more than a single weeks worth of fuel. furthermore without using an additive such as "stabil" gas starts to turn into varnish after a month or so. lastly a large generator requires appropriate power cords. those special gauge cords are very expensive. ours was nearly $200 or 186 euros, and that was from three years ago before prices went up.
Tidal is just another crackpot green energy source that doesn't actually work. Technically it can be made to work, but only in a handful of places worldwide with exceptionally strong tides, and even then it doesn't generate much electricity.
maybe if they didnt turn off their nuclear powerplants.
Meanwhile in France...
0:12 they showed the entirety of the European continent having a black out...
except that Italy and the Iberian peninsula have their own electric networks, so, even if central Europe had a massive power failure it would not affect all of Europe. I also seriously doubt that France would be affected.
In an EMP or CME scenario borders would not matter
An emp affecting all of Europe? Lol
also in that scenario your back up generator will be dead too, so...
Unless they are on a completely separate grid, France could also easily be affected by a blackout in Germany. There are a lot of interconnects between the countries, and the electrical grid is an amazingly complex beast. For an interesting description of how Texas almost went into a full blackout during the 2021 winter freeze, refer to "The 1020 Podcast" interview "Nuclear Energy with Mark Nelson".
Exactly. It's a mind game.
Does anyone know what that tv show was and where I can watch it by chance
NY had a blackout years ago for about 3 days, wasn't it. In Brazil, a friend confirmed a video that I saw, one state git a blackout for more than 15 days...😮
Not true, businesses need to survive in Brazil, no one can even go 1 full day without power, the states have backup generators to use in emergencies, even in the poorest state, am brazilian btw living in one of the poorest state north of brazil, we did not experience the energy blackout there was lately cause we use our own independent source and is disconnected from the national system, but yes they did have a blackout for almost 6-8 hrs in some states, first time incident in years, court is investigating whether it was sabotage or technical problem, we are under USA watch and under some crazy opposition chasing politricks likewise as the USA, so people are crazy to overthrow the current government😊
Relying to a single source of energy. What could possibly go wrong. 🤷♂️
If it's the right kind of source, nothing. If it's a source controlled by a hostile imperialistic neighbor, then a lot could go wrong.
Another beautiful DW documentary. Thanks! Keep up the good work :)
I loved the clip not included in the docu of the German delegates laughing and belittling Trump at the UN for saying Germany was too dependant on Russian gas and that if they didn't change they'd end up paying for it. I take great schadenfreude in this case.
Trump once said Germany relies too much on Russia.
He should be INDICTED for such an Inconvenient Truth!
Maybe just don`t confront Russia all the time.
Yeah well. Trump did the same. Lol.
Very interesting program. Danke.
Informative video
And we have only few percent EVs on the road. Have they done any calculation how will we handle 100% EV. Wait semitrucks to move to electric with it's 7.000kg, 900kWh battery. Connecting 10 to the elctric grid will use as much power as a semi-truck factory.
No, they haven't, because if they published such information, everyone would see this EV thing is doomed from the start.
Every single day there are power outages. My local power company publishes known outages online and there are several outages recorded each and every day. There isn't a day without at least one outage and they even happen during fully sunny days without a cloud in sight or any wind to speak of. Most people are not aware an outage even occurred, how widespread it was, nor how long it lasted. Some outages are actually planned in advance to handle upgrades of old equipment and customers are notified in advance. I suspect every electric grid is just as fragile...most people only notice/care if the power goes out for more than a few minutes.
Where?
@@noahway13 Germany. A great many under 3 minutes, which are unreported. No problem for house lights or the fridge, but for high power equipment sensitive to momentary outages, designed to run under modern grid w very rare outages, its huge. Add this to the highest power rates in the EU, and the like of BASF moves to US or S America. Clowns like the grinning strolling "influencer" blogger are oblivious.
You didn't say where you are.
Certainly your experience is not typical in California which has not suffered any large power outages except those typically associated with natural disasters like wildfires.
If demand is unusually high like in very hot weather there may be a warning to expect interruptions, but typically there are no outages.
Maintenance outages are different. If equipment needs to be repaired or replaced, those are planned and typically affect only a very localized area.
“I suspect every grid is just as fragile”
No they’re not. Poorly maintained grids can have drops of hours or a day, but not these every day multiple secs or mins long outages. Traditional grids are backed by million of lbs of rotating 50hz or 60 hz turbines and generator shafts, so seconds long interruptions over there are spun threw by machines here. But when you throw up 50 GW of electronic inverters facing the grid from solar panels, they have no mass to keep “spinning”.
@@tonysu8860 “typically there are no outages”
The video refers to multiple, increasingly common, second long outages in Germany which is causing problems for sensitive machinery. Do you have access to data on such outages in CA.? They are not typically reported.
I believe a better solution is the one that is more localized. Here in Japan I have an 18kW standby battery-based system here in my home. It is kept charged largely by the sun (of which we have an abundance) and, failing that, a backup generator starts automatically and is capable of fully recharging the battery banks in a couple of hours. And to put that into perspective, the battery banks will (silently) power the home essentials conservatively used for two to four days before they are depleted to the point where the generator is required, even with a complete lack of sunshine.Therefore I am not afraid of an extended grid failure, because I am prepared for it.
Of course it is not a complete solution, however If systems such as this were adopted into all new homes and other buildings the cost would be relatively small, and could greatly reduce strain on the electrical grid(s) as a whole. This would in turn reduce to a great extent the likelihood of grid failure occuring in the first place.
As a side note... I am of German descent, transplanted to this country 30+ years ago. And we attempt to live simply... what we don't use we don't waste.
Well done, thank you.
Fuel for generators won't be available. Try Solar Panels and inverters instead.
Its 50 deg N latitude. Days get down to 4-5 hours sun in winter if clear and often not. Wth is wrong w you?
11:30 500 to 3000 Billion euros?
That would be enough to build 40 to 240 EPR reactors, which could cover 100-600% of Germany's electricity demand.
14:15 worrying about that companies move from "minimal emission" country to higher emission places...
😂 Have he ever looked at ElectricityMaps?
Germany is NOT a minimal emission country!
They could have been, if they would phased out coal instead of nuclear.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
here I am , watching this thanks to a 100 Ah battery in my office . Germany wont have "black outs" , maybe rolling 2 hour "load shedding" , 3 times a day . Pity about the Nuclear . Im in South Africa.
Same here. And I agree about nuclear. I have no problem with South Africa adding more nuclear power - I just don’t trust the ANC to deliver it without immense corruption and dodgy deals with China or Russia.
They could just build NPPs to replace their NatGas/Coal/W&S power installations and be done with it.
But nah, they're going for the most convoluted option.
There's a movie called "The Trigger Effect" that explores what might happen if electricity was suddenly cut.
A prolonged blackout would collapse the government and cause the deaths of those reliant on governement to survive
@@GFY11 Interestingly, Pakistan had an electricy grid failure recently, in part due to Germany (and others) buying up all available Natural Gas, so that Pakistan's power plants did not have any fuel. They have since started reverting to coal power instead. Likewise, South Africa has had a prolonged period of rolling blackouts due to corruption and other issues making the electricity grid inadequate for the task.
In neither case has the government collapsed - yet. However, there is a LOT of public anger in both countries, and it's only a matter of time before something like that happens - unless the governments can restore reliable service.
Great fun to see this video from a country with enough nuclear reactors and lack of green idiots. Well done Germany, please do not stop!
Which country is that?
@@adamhauskins6407 The country which now builds 36 nuclear power units in several countries for some $200 bln total revenue by it's State Corporation Rosatom...
@@adamhauskins6407It is Russia.
That happened here in Kenya last week, on the 26th August 2023. Even backup generators at our JKIA International Airport temporarily failed. We were suddenly in the dark in the present moment and with no screens on, we finally had conversations with each other. The power took 2 whole days to come back to some areas. All in all it was okay. Don't worry, y'all will survive it.
At least in Kenya you don't freeze to death if the power fails. In Germany in winter it's a real possibility.
@@d53101 that's right
In Kenya, it was sabotage, apparently.
The Kenyan power generation and distribution is well distributed and segmented, such a total failure is impossible.
The issue is in the west all financial transactions are electrical. So a blackout= no money, no card will work and atm wont work so u cant even take out money. Im sure banks will be closing for security reasons. Thats the real danger, no access to money. Not the climate or tv 📺
@@d53101time to get your loved ones closer and maybe start bringing kids to this earth, not only plundering east Europe's population, huh?
in Puerto Rico , we had the longest blackout in history after the Hurricane Maria in 2017, I was without power from September 20, 2017, to December 22, 2017, rely on Inventers generator ( 2500W) all those months , so we can tell you how is to live in a month's Blackout.
I am hearing reports that this video is geo-blocked in Germany. Can anyone confirm or deny?
Europe has been enjoying themselves for decades
Only a slight discomfort & they complaining
Only fair for other regions especially Africa & Asia to prosper & enjoy better quality of lives
Mama doesn't treat all her children the same
It looks like 'German perfection'
is just an illusion
Great Documentary! The first time I see someone talking abut the engineering feasibility of electrification.
I am not against activism but that is the problem when without enough background knowledge decision-making is done. Renenwables will never be enough because its not dispatchable. Most activist don't understand this limitation and that's why I feel they think less is being done than actually is.
Geothermal power could be made in Iceland then fed into Denmark, Norway and Germany via underwater cables
Geothermal is just using underground magma and pipes with water to generate heat energy from steam
It’d last a while
No. Nowhere close to enough. And did you hear of long pipeline called Nordstream? Now your answer is build another giant power 2500 km link bottom of Atlantic, because nothing can happen?
Does anyone have a count of how many times they used the clip from the movie Blackout? Every time I see it I cant help but think "they seriously had nothing better to pad out the time with?". Get more b-roll.
"We need a smaller, no longer growing economy, a post-growth economy. Let's buy diesel generators to charge batteries for short-living-non-repairable electric cars in every household!"
exactly 😵
Add Cost as a factor.... So...
9:25 nice gaming setup !
We need more gadgets that use mechanical means to power things like watches and the radios that generate electricity with a mechanical dynamo....
That's the idea behind power stations / generators 😂
Unicorn Farts are an unreliable source of energy.
Try Rainbow Rays, instead.
@3:00 meeting the target, what will that achieve? Who set these targets? Is it better or worse than most?
Underground power storage system to be installed then Artifical intelligence system applied on wherever the power shortage and balanced power systems to be applied that's the solution.
The ridiculous way in which the producers avoided talking about nuclear power as a solution for this crisis makes this news report look like a mockumentary. Might as well have used circus music as a soundtrack.
They destroyed 15 gigawatts of clean, cheap, reliable electricity (plus 30 gigawatts of heat available for space heating, water heating, and absorption refrigeration) for no reason and didn't even mention it.
Thanks goes to Germany for showing the rest of the world how to NOT handle your energy.
Energy which is at the foundation for modern welfare society, where transports, food, health and comfortable homes are all totally dependent on it to work, be emission free, cheap, safe, affordable.
For showing how a country that was a world leader in organization, production and effieciency can self destruct from a romantic folly. Used to be overwrought nationalism, now environmentalism.
You have yet again showed the world your absolute madness.
I believe there is a 250% increase in price to build offshore wind generators, Hundreds of millions!
There seems to be a whole lot of "Let's wish in one hand and schitt in the other" going on. Let's see which hand fills up first...