Power outage in Salzgitter: Rewe branches affected – cooling at risk!

Power outage in Salzgitter: Rewe branches affected – cooling at risk!

On Friday, October 17th, a massive power outage in Salzgitter caused significant problems. The city's entire power grid was paralyzed, which led to an immediate need for action in the supermarkets, especially in the Rewe branch on Chemnitzer Straße. The outage meant that all refrigerated goods could no longer be sold, which was a major setback for many consumers and the business. Rewe confirmed that the branch on Ludwig-Erhard-Straße was also affected.

The consequences of the power outage were devastating: refrigerators were destroyed and some goods unfortunately had to be thrown away. Fortunately, employees managed to transfer a large portion of the food to other refrigerated shelves to avoid major losses. The safety of the customers was always our top priority. The decisive factor was whether the refrigerator or freezer temperatures had fallen below the permissible values, which was the criterion for the disposal of the food, how News38 reports.

The dangers of a long-term power outage

The events in Salzgitter show how much such incidents can affect the food supply in Germany. A prolonged power outage could severely impact the supply of fresh food, threatening massive food waste as many products require refrigeration. Studies even show that almost two thirds of Germans pay by card in retail, which can also lead to problems without electricity. In Finland, crisis-proof supermarkets have already been developed that have a separate power supply that is activated in an emergency. This model, like that of the S-Market in the Konala district of Helsinki, could be a model for Germany. All information and background information can be found at t online.

Both Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have already equipped their logistics centers with emergency generators to maintain a continuous cold chain even during a power outage. Overall, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief has painted a very clear picture of the challenges: A large-scale, long-lasting power outage could not only severely affect the food supply, but also communication, health care and mobility.

Emergency plans and crisis management

Some time ago, the Office for Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag examined the consequences of a power outage lasting several weeks and found that, although the probability of this happening is low, the effects could be catastrophic. It is all the more important that companies and public institutions draw up emergency plans and procure emergency generators in order to remain able to act even in times of crisis. The Federal Office for Civil Protection recommends comprehensive risk and crisis management for critical infrastructures, which is becoming increasingly important, especially in times of increasing dependence on electricity supply.

The public is invited to find out about precautionary measures and what to do in the event of power outages. This is the only way that each individual can contribute to being well prepared in the event of an emergency and meeting the challenges.