Balkans hit by blackouts as heatwave persists
On Friday, four Balkan countries experienced simultaneous power cuts lasting several hours as the region endured a summer heatwave.
The afternoon blackouts affected Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, and large areas along the Croatian coast due to a surge in power demand from households turning on air-conditioning to cope with the high temperatures.
In Bosnia and Croatia, the outages disrupted traffic lights, leading to transport chaos in major cities like Sarajevo and Split.
Power suppliers managed to restore electricity by the evening but continued to investigate the cause of the failure within the interlinked power systems of the four countries.
The power cuts, which began at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), even halted water pumps in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.
The outages also impacted the tourist season in Croatian resorts, leaving holidaymakers in Dubrovnik in confusion as restaurants, pubs, and supermarkets closed.
Temperatures across the region approached 40°C during the long, hot afternoon.
Montenegro’s Energy Minister, Sasa Mujovic, stated on national TV that “a sudden increase in power consumption due to high temperature” was responsible for the outages.
Montenegro’s Vijesti TV carried reports of a fire in a power transmission line in a rugged area near the border with Bosnia, although the station did not make clear how this could be connected with the blackouts.
In Albania, officials said power was restored within half an hour, but that there was a high risk of further blackouts, as energy usage was still high.
Energy production in the western Balkans is shifting away from the use of coal, which accounts for much of the region’s greenhouse gas emissions.
But despite a big drive to invest in solar energy, the creaking power infrastructure is not yet fully prepared for the change, industry officials say.
