Power failure in Köpenick: Power restored to all 34,000 customers

20.02.2019

Horizontal drilling work by a civil engineering firm cut through two 110 kV cable systems at 2.10pm on 19 February at the entrance to the Salvador Allende bridge in the district of Köpenick, causing a large-scale power failure. Around 34,000 customers were without power for approximately 31 hours. The unusually long disruption was the result of complex structural challenges at the site and repair works in a very confined space. All affected customers have had their power restored as of 9.22pm.

From 6.58pm onwards, around 5,000 households in Köpenick's Old Town and sensitive customers such as hospitals had already been gradually reconnected by means of a provisional partial supply. Repairs on the first of the affected two cable systems continued in parallel. The cable was put into operation shortly before 9pm. The remaining affected households had power restored from 9.22pm.

Jürgen Schunk, head of the crisis management team at Stromnetz Berlin GmbH, explains the unusually long duration of the power failure: "There has never been a case like it in Berlin. Both cable systems were completely severed during the drilling and our fitters had to carry out the repair works in a confined space at the entrance to the bridge. Safety and care were our top priorities. Our colleagues worked all night until late in the evening of the following day to restore power to our customers."

In the coming days, the second cable system will be repaired and the backup in the area of the Salvador Allende bridge restored.