Owners of any business are concerned about how to operate in a blackout. Whether it will be possible to hold on economically during the heating season or long blackouts. The difficulty is that it is impossible to predict how any given scenario will unfold. However, there are general guidelines.
How serious is it?
All services must prepare for blackouts. During each blackout, the number of patrols protecting the peace of citizens should be increased. Police and rescue teams must work extra hard around the clock. This will not only help to avoid a spike in criminal events during prolonged power outages but also to achieve a reduction in the number of crimes.
Business and blackouts
Power outages have topped the ranking of obstacles to business operations, according to economic research experts. Entrepreneurs say that in the worst-case scenario, i.e. in the case of permanent blackouts, any economy will face an inevitable collapse. The food industry, metallurgy, and other industries will be the first to suffer.
At least 2 months of blackout for 10 hours will be fatal for any company that generates profit. And it is impossible to prepare for a blackout. If we are talking about business, only educational institutions and all those who can work on generators can prepare for such forced measures. The government should take the lead in preparing businesses for blackouts. The first step should be to develop its own initiatives and programs to support business.
Generators are not a panacea
If industrial giants with a continuous production cycle stop working, it will be very difficult to get them back online. For example, if metallurgical enterprises have not been working for several days and an emergency power outage has shut down blast furnaces, it is very difficult to restart them.
The food industry, such as large bakeries and dairy producers, will also be affected. This leads to interruptions in the supply of key products such as bread and milk.
Such enterprises cannot survive on generators for long, especially since there are no generators that can withstand their starting current.
In addition, many food companies have production cycles that are disrupted during power outages. For example, the pasteurization cycle cannot last less than 6 hours. If it is disrupted, the products will simply be spoiled.
Another serious problem is that businesses have to include the cost of electricity in the price of their products or services, even though they realize that the current level of people’s ability to pay in times of crisis may simply not be able to sustain additional price increases.
If businesses switch to diesel engines and generators, inflation could rise by 1-2%. The massive use of generators will not only increase inflation but also put pressure on the fuel market.
Solutions
Large enterprises, especially those with foreign investors, can use alternative sources of power and communication, as provided for in their emergency plans.
For example, during the blackouts in Ukraine, according to the European Business Association, the most common response to electricity problems was the installation of generators or other uninterruptible power supplies – 86% of the association’s members have them. Another 65% use alternative sources of communication and the Internet.
However, only large, often international companies can afford this. Small and medium-sized businesses have a much harder time. The cost of purchasing generators and fuel is very high, and government regulation also hinders them. But there is no choice. Without electricity, their shops not only have no light, but neither refrigerators nor cash registers work, and, in fact, they simply have to be closed.
Possible solutions for businesses include mobile power plants with a capacity of up to 50 MW. In turn, the government and legislators should promptly review all legal regulations regarding the use of generators and fuel storage. We have collected other life hacks for surviving blackouts in our article here.
All these solutions will allow businesses to survive long blackouts. Stay safe!
