99 Luftballons?
Dresden, Germany is the home to over 2,000 semiconductor related companies and fabs for Global Foundries (pvt), Infineon (IFX.GR), and X-Fab (XFAB.FP), along with about a half million people. The region is considered the Silicon Valley of Europe and one of the most popular sightseeing points in Germany. But it seems that last week the city and local region suffered the same fate as Texas, Taiwan, and Japan, and faced a blackout that halted production at at least one and possibly more semiconductor foundries. Infineion, whose Dresden plant produces automotive semiconductor components, saw the 1 to 2 hour outage halt production, which inevitably will result in process loss and exacerbate the shortages in the automotive space that were just beginning to show signs of a more relaxed order environment, along with Global Foundries and Bosch (pvt), both of whom also saw outages that could lead to reduced production.
Strangely, the cause of the power outage that affected over 35% of the area and over 300,000 homes and businesses, was a metalized balloon that drifted into a 110KV substation and tripped the system, shutting down power across the area. The police are investigating the source of the balloon and whether it was radio controlled, however while it was recovered, it was quite burned. If any control systems are found it would be considered an ‘attack’ rather than an unusual accident.
Strangely, the cause of the power outage that affected over 35% of the area and over 300,000 homes and businesses, was a metalized balloon that drifted into a 110KV substation and tripped the system, shutting down power across the area. The police are investigating the source of the balloon and whether it was radio controlled, however while it was recovered, it was quite burned. If any control systems are found it would be considered an ‘attack’ rather than an unusual accident.
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