How the fire brigade remains operational during a blackout

Pinkafeld, 20 May 2025 : The emergency power supply for hospitals is regulated throughout Austria in the event of a disaster. This is not the case for fire brigades and the police. Frederick Mann, a graduate of the Master's degree programme in Sustainable Energy Systems at the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences, therefore wrote his thesis on the supply of power to fire stations in the event of a crisis. He was supervised by lecturer Christian Doczekal, an expert in sustainable technologies and long-serving fire officer.

Special protection for critical infrastructure

Power failures, especially large-scale blackouts, are a serious threat to our modern society. Fire services are a key pillar of support, especially in crisis situations. But they also need electricity to remain operational. Without electricity, no communication systems, no emergency lighting, no technical equipment and - currently still a dream of the future - no electrically powered fire engines can function. A concept from Burgenland University of Applied Sciences could provide the solution: oversized photovoltaic systems (PV) and battery storage on fire stations in combination with an energy community.

The results of Frederik Mann's master's thesis show how fire brigades can operate independently of the power supply, while at the same time providing sustainable support to the community and remaining economical. For his thesis, the student created two models of fire brigades in Burgenland - a smaller one in Wolfau and a larger one in Pinkafeld. He analysed the existing emergency power generators as well as the plans for energy security, current satellite images and weather data and created simulations for PV systems on the buildings.

Solar energy as a solution

The idea is simple yet visionary: fire stations are equipped with large-scale PV systems and oversized battery storage units. In the event of a blackout, these systems completely cover the energy requirements of the fire station and thus ensure operational readiness. At the same time, the system is used on a day-to-day basis to operate a renewable energy community (EEG).

Financing: Investing together, benefiting together

Financing is a central element of the concept. The high investment costs for an oversized PV system and a battery storage system can be spread across many shoulders by setting up an energy cooperative. Members of the EEG, from fire brigade members to businesses, contribute to covering the costs through their participation and at the same time benefit from cheap electricity.

The income from the sale of electricity reduces the fire brigade's operating costs and enables the system to be amortised in the long term. This makes the concept economically attractive and sustainable, as the calculations for Wolfau and Pinkafeld also showed.

Great popularity and unanswered questions

Frederick Mann and his supervisor presented the results of the master's thesis to the "green energy on fire" network as well as Austrian and German firefighters. "There was a great deal of interest in the models, even though no real implementation is planned for the time being," says Mann. This is because the lack of space for a large PV system, the organisation of the project due to a lack of personnel resources - the keyword being voluntary - and our federalist system with its enormous bureaucratic burden can pose problems for many fire services.

Nevertheless, the concepts are on the table and an important step towards crisis security has been taken.

Facts about the degree programme

Degree programme: Master's degree - 4 semesters - technical studies supplemented by aspects of economics, law and management; Academic degree: Graduate engineer for technical-scientific professions - Dipl.Ing.; Organisational form: part-time: teaching at the study centre 10 weekends per semester: usually Friday 14:00 to approx. 21:00 and Saturday from 8:30 to approx. 17:15, plus two attendance blocks per semester Thursday to Saturday from 08:30 to approx. 19:15; Study places: 40; Study location: 7423 Pinkafeld, Steinamangerstraße 21; Language: German (required language level min. B2), individual courses can be held in English (required language level min. B2); Tuition fees: none

Information and enrolment at www.hochschule-burgenland.at.

Enquiry notes:

Mag.a Christiane Staab │ Marketing and Communication │ University of Applied Sciences Burgenland GmbH │ Tel: +43 (0)5 7705 3537 │ E-Mail: christiane.staab(at)hochschule-burgenland.at