The Federal Network Agency believes that fears that large numbers of fan heaters could cause power outages have not materialized. "We saw the sales figures for the fan heaters," said the authority's president, Klaus Müller, to the "Tagesspiegel" (Monday).

"But the good thing is: The devices are not switched on. They are in the basement," he added. In November, when it was temporarily cold, people could have had the "stupid and expensive idea of ​​heating with electricity instead of gas. Fortunately, hardly anyone did that," said Müller.

In the past few months, consumers had stocked up on fan heaters in large numbers for fear of a gas shortage. "The risk of a blackout doesn't worry us too much," emphasized Müller.

The Federal Network Agency is concerned about France. The nuclear power plants there are currently having problems and are supplying significantly less electricity than usual. French nuclear power is missing from the European grid. "Germany therefore supplies France with electricity - from our coal and gas-fired power plants and the three nuclear power plants that we continue to run for the time being," said the head of the network agency.