Due to the heat: widespread power outages in the Balkan region

In Montenegro, the largest utility company reported power outages in large parts of the country on Friday. Energy Minister Sasa Mujovic said, according to local media, that the significant increase in electricity consumption due to the heat caused the grid to collapse. In the capital, Podgorica, water supplies were also temporarily cut off.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, electricity was completely cut off in the capital, Sarajevo, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent. A spokeswoman for the local utility company said the exact cause was still unclear, but it was likely an “overload.” Bosnian media reported that the failure of all traffic lights led to traffic chaos there.

In Albania, power went out in most cities, but usually returned after half an hour, news portal Top-channel.tv reported. According to this source, the Albanian network operator OST attributed the power outage to a defect in high-voltage lines in the border area with Greece. This was caused by high levels of stress and extremely hot weather. Energy Minister Florian Sirianni spoke about regional disruptions.

An hour without electricity in Croatia

In Croatia, power was cut off on the Dalmatian coast and remote areas around 12:20 p.m., Croatian television HRT reported. Holiday heartlands such as Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar were affected. According to HRT, power gradually returned after a little over an hour. Temperatures reaching 37 degrees were measured in Split on Friday.

Local grid operator HEP said the power outage in parts of Croatia was the result of an international outage that affected several countries. HEP is running its systems at full speed to ensure supply is back on as quickly as possible.

The electricity networks in the Balkan countries are closely interconnected. Thus disturbances and failures can persist over long distances.