Kumar Bahukhandi
Power has been cut off in large parts of Europe (Photo- Reuters)
There has been a sudden blackout in many areas of Europe. Spain’s state-owned power company Red Electrica said work was being done to restore power supply. The grid operator said all resources were being deployed to solve the problem.
There have been reports of major power cuts in European countries Spain and Portugal. The news agency Associated Press reports that there is a power outage in the capitals of these countries as well. Some cities in France have also been affected by this blackout.
Spain’s state-run power company Red Electrica said it was working to restore power and was currently analysing the causes of the blackout. The grid operator said, “All resources are being deployed to solve this problem.”
According to the BBC report, Spain’s national railway company Renfe said that at 12:30 local time the country’s “entire national electricity grid was cut off.” Renfe said trains were halted and no trains were arriving or departing from any station.
The power outage also affected the Madrid Open, an annual clay court tennis tournament, and play had to be halted. British tennis player Jacob Fearnley was forced to leave the court as the match was halted.
The power outage affected the tournament’s scoreboard and caused the cameras above the court to stop working.
Such widespread power outages are rare in Spain and Portugal. Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE said several areas across the country experienced a major power outage at around 12:30pm local time, leaving its newsroom, the Spanish Parliament in Madrid and metro stations across the country in the dark.
Why did the power go out suddenly?
The power outage in Portugal, a country of 10.6 million, affected the capital Lisbon and surrounding areas as well as northern and southern parts of the country. According to Portuguese newspaper Expresso, Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the power outage was due to “a problem in the European power system.”
According to Expresso, the company said it had to cut off power in certain areas to restore the network. E-Redes said parts of France were also affected.
Mobile networks also stopped working due to the power outage. Some reports said the Lisbon subway stopped running. Traffic lights in the city also stopped working.
