Several European countries are experiencing widespread power outages, including Spain, France, Portugal and Andorra.
As Bloomberg writes , the problems were confirmed by state-owned energy supply companies. The problems began on April 28 at approximately 1:30 p.m. Moscow time. Now specialists are trying to eliminate the consequences of what happened.
Due to malfunctions, metro and railway systems stopped working in cities. Passengers had to be evacuated. People also complained about malfunctions at Lisbon airport, where only metal detectors are working. Flights are being massively postponed both in Portugal and in other countries.
In addition, the situation affected traffic lights, ATMs, the Internet, residential areas, shops. Some people were stuck in elevators. Also, due to the blackout, the tennis match at the Madrid Open between Grigor Dimitrov and Jacob Fearnley was stopped due to a malfunction of the camera above the court. The Sun also reports that all hospitals in Portugal have cancelled surgeries.
As of 15:00, power has been restored in some areas. However, problems continue to affect a large number of residents. For example, Reddit users report that there is still no power, for example, in northern Spain and southern Portugal.
Spain has already set up a crisis committee to address the situation. The country’s Interior Ministry declared a state of emergency due to the blackout. By the morning of April 29, power supply had almost completely been restored. The grid operator Red Electrica reported that 99.16% of demand had been restored.
What Caused the Blackout in Europe
There is no information yet on what caused the massive power outage. The Portuguese government said the situation was related to problems in the distribution network outside the country. Authorities believe that it most likely happened in Spain. According to Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, the cause could have been a “rare atmospheric phenomenon.” Due to strong fluctuations in air temperature in Spain, abnormal fluctuations in very high voltage lines occurred. This led to failures.
Experts do not rule out a cyber attack, but consider this version unlikely. The President of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa said that there is no evidence of malicious activity. The same opinion was expressed by Teresa Ribera, Senior Vice-President of the European Commission.
Bloomberg noted that power outages of this scale are very rare in Europe. For example, serious incidents occurred in 2003, when a power outage affected all of Italy, or in 2018 in London.
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