Simulation von Kaskadeneffekten beim Ausfall von Infrastrukturen

Reliable supply infrastructures for electricity, gas, water and district heating are taken for granted in everyday life. However, in the event of a disaster-caused for example by extreme natural events-they may be particularly vulnerable due to mutual dependencies and influences. The crisis managers of the network operators are specialists in their respective network. There is a high risk of so called cascading effects. That means, failures can be conditioned or reinforced mutually, they can escalate if actions of operators are not coordinated beyond the own system. Such mutual dependencies are often neither recognized nor exist adequate ways of communication in crisis. Successful coordination between operators under time pressure and ever-changing environment in the event of a disaster is an enormous challenge. Experience shows that even in smaller damage cases that arise at the interfaces between the operators, lead to momentous problems if mitigation efforts exacerbate the crisis elsewhere. On the basis of expanding accident scenarios the research project «Simulation of cascading effects in case of failure of supply infrastructures» (SIMKAS 3D), funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, was therefore to develop a virtual decision space that allows better communication and decision making between stakeholders in cases of a crisis. In 2013 SIMKAS 3D has been selected for the DVW Best Practice Award.