Strategies for Managing Outages and Recovery from HDI Global
In the wake of the major power outage on the Iberian Peninsula in April 2025, HDI Risk Consulting is urging companies to prioritise business resilience, particularly in relation to power failures. The consultancy recommends targeted preventive measures that go beyond standard backup systems, focusing on four key areas often overlooked in traditional emergency plans.
These measures are designed to help companies prepare specifically for unexpected blackouts, which are becoming more frequent due to technical faults, extreme weather, cyber attacks, and network overloads. The key recommended actions include:
1. Comprehensive Blackout Prevention Planning: Integrating power failure as a core element of overall risk management, alongside fire safety, IT security, and insurance.
2. Testing and Validation of Backup Systems: Ensuring the reliability of backup systems such as generators and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) under real operating conditions.
3. Development and Documentation of Clear Shutdown Protocols and Restart Plans: Prioritising the maintenance of critical business functions and ensuring a structured response during outages.
4. Incorporation of Staff Welfare and People Risk Management: Recognising that employee availability and wellbeing during prolonged outages are essential to operational continuity.
These measures are especially important in industries like manufacturing, chemicals, food logistics, and pharmaceuticals, where power loss can result in permanent damage, spoilage, or safety hazards, leading to costly business interruption claims.
HDI Risk Consulting also emphasises the importance of identifying critical processes and closing information gaps, including assessing dependencies in networked processes. Business continuity strategies should account for multi-day power outages, and the availability of operational resources, such as generators, must be assessed realistically, as supply chains are often disrupted during emergencies.
Ensuring a reliable supply of information is crucial during a power outage, and companies should clarify where they can obtain information in an emergency. Preparing the organisation with a focus on people and communication is crucial, as uncertainty and a loss of control can quickly arise without clear responsibilities, structured processes, and reliable communication channels.
In extreme situations, such as a prolonged power outage, employees may leave the company to care for their families. Therefore, companies are advised to include the personal safety of their employees in their crisis preparedness. A detailed examination of internal processes is necessary for blackout preparedness.
On a separate note, HDI Global SE reported positive financial results for Q1 2025, with growth in both revenue and earnings. The major drivers for this growth were growth in new business and inflation-related price adjustments. HDI Global provides support in securing complex transformation processes, including energy management and digitalization.
Growing interconnectedness and increasing supply security demands necessitate working with reliable partners for critical process security. HDI Global is committed to resilient risk management, introducing Climate Consulting to help businesses assess and mitigate climate-related risks.
[1] HDI Risk Consulting (2025). Targeted Preventive Measures for Business Resilience During Power Failures. [online] Available at: https://www.hdi-global.com/en/risk-consulting/articles/targeted-preventive-measures-for-business-resilience-during-power-failures.html [2] HDI Risk Consulting (2025). Blackout Preparedness: Four Key Areas for Businesses to Focus On. [online] Available at: https://www.hdi-global.com/en/risk-consulting/articles/blackout-preparedness-four-key-areas-for-businesses-to-focus-on.html
- In light of increasing power failures, HDI Risk Consulting advises companies to incorporate power failure prevention into their overall risk management plans, covering areas like fire safety, IT security, and insurance.
- To ensure the reliability of backup systems like generators and UPS during a blackout, companies should conduct testing and validation under real operating conditions.
- To maintain critical business functions during a blackout, companies should develop and document clear shutdown protocols and restart plans, recognizing the importance of employee welfare and risk management.
- HDI Risk Consulting emphasizes the need for businesses to identify critical processes, close information gaps, account for multi-day power outages, and assess the reality of operational resources availability, especially during emergencies.
- In addition to these measures, HDI Risk Consulting suggests companies prepare for extreme situations, such as prolonged power outages, by focusing on employee safety, communication, and crisis preparedness.
- While HDI Risk Consulting focuses on business resilience during power failures, HDI Global SE reported positive financial results for Q1 2025, with growth in revenue and earnings driven by new business and inflation-related price adjustments.
- As businesses face growing interconnectedness and supply security demands, HDI Global offers support in securing complex transformation processes, including energy management and digitalization.
- Recognizing the importance of climate-related risks, HDI Global introduced Climate Consulting to help businesses assess and mitigate these risks, highlighting their commitment to resilient risk management.