Antwerp diamond square mile not affected by planned power outage this winter

Certain parts of Belgium may experience a power shortage over the upcoming winter period due to problems at two Belgian nuclear plants, the federal government recently announced.

Although the federal, regional and local governments have initiated several action plans to avoid power shortages and outages, it cannot be entirely ruled out that power shortages or outages will occur.

With that in mind, the governments have developed a "worst-case scenario" plan, in which six predetermined sections of the power grid will be turned off one-by-one, but not all at once, in an orderly manner for approximately three hours (between 17h00 - 20h00). The power outage will affect both public and private power supply, including power supply to residences, public lighting, streetlights, telecommunications (landlines, mobile phones and connection to the Internet), etc. We emphasize that the government will communicate any power outage in advance to those who will be affected.

Cities who may be affected by a power outage or shortage have already drawn up emergency plans that will allow federal and local police forces to maintain law and order, and traffic to continue to run smoothly.

The center of Antwerp, including the Antwerp Diamond District, is not scheduled for a planned power outage and will therefore receive a normal power supply. AWDC SO does recommend to check the location and good working order of the regular power supply, as well as the redundancy power supply systems (if available), within the S-ADA buildings.

However, residences and companies located outside of the Diamond District may still be affected by the power outage.

The governments have released detailed lists of the areas and streets that may be affected 

We recommend that you download the list of your province in PDF format and then use the "Ctrl + F" function to see if your street is mentioned:

Province of Antwerp:

http://static1.hln.be/static/asset/2014/Straten_per_schijf___laagspanning_Antwerpen_1__2683.pdf

Province of East-Flanders:

http://static1.hln.be/static/asset/2014/Straten_per_schijf___laagspanning_OostVlaanderen_2684.pdf

Province of West-Flanders:

http://static3.hln.be/static/asset/2014/240248989_Geimpacteerde_straten_West_Vlaanderen_2703.pdf

Province of Flemish-Brabant:

http://static0.hln.be/static/asset/2014/240249142_Geimpacteerde_straten_Vlaams_Brabant_2704.pdf

Province of Limbourg:

http://static0.hln.be/static/asset/2014/Sibelga_2706.pdf

Brussels Region:

http://static0.hln.be/static/asset/2014/Sibelga_2706.pdf

Further recommendations:

• Check the list to see whether the location of your business and/or residence is included. If so, inform your staff and family members accordingly.
• Contact the administration at your respective city hall for more information and respective action plans as well as any other recommendations
• If you rely on electronic security systems, e.g. an alarm system, CCTV or an access control system, consider having your alarm installation company review and maintain the system beforehand. Make sure the power supply in particular is checked, to ensure optimal performance.
• If you rely on an alarm-monitoring center, contact them for a run-through of relevant procedures.
• Make sure that someone will keep an eye on your home during the scheduled power outage. Do not leave your residence unattended.
• Reduce your power consumption as much as possible during the upcoming winter.
• Consider renting or buying a power generator to avoid the risk of a power outage. 
• Talk to your neighbors to see if they are interested in jointly contacting a licensed private security company to organize private security patrols in your area.
• Do not hesitate to contact the AWDC Security Office for more information, or in case you have any questions or remarks.