By Rannveig Loken, Norway
Chile, Santiago – February 26, 2025
A massive power outage across Chile plunged the country’s capital Santiago into darkness and knocked out electricity to major copper mines in the country’s north. The widespread blackout was caused by a transmission line failure in the country’s north. 8 million homes had been affected in Chile’s largest power cut in years.
Honduras – March 1, 2025
The national power disruption affected Honduras with a total blackout in the control area of the country. Power was largely back the next afternoon.
Indonesia, Jakarta – March 4, 2025
Thousands of people were evacuated in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta after floods swamped the region, with heavy rain. Torrential rain triggered floods of up to 3-metres in and around Jakarta, blocking some roads and submerging over 1,000 houses and many cars. Residents were also evacuated to schools, mosques and churches. The Greater Jakarta metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people, is regularly hit by floods.
Australia, Queensland and New South Wales – March 6, 2025
Cyclone Alfred stalled off Australia’s east coast and shut airports, schools and public transport while residents stockpiled supplies and sandbagged homes against flooding expected when the category-two storm hits. More than 5,000 properties in southeast Queensland and thousands in northern New South Wales were without power. More than 1,000 schools in southeast Queensland and 250 in northern New South Wales were closed, while public transport in Brisbane was suspended.
South Africa – March 7, 2025
South African resumed scheduled power cuts due to the loss of power from nuclear plant and coal station. They were 2,700 megawatts (MW) short of its generation capacity and implemented “Stage 3” outages, requiring up to 3,000 MW to be shed from the national grid. They expected to return 6,200 MW of capacity to service after a few days.
Italy, Naples – March 13, 2025
An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 hit near the southern Italian city of Naples damaging buildings and causing locals to flee into the streets. Several minor aftershocks were felt in the region, intensifying concerns among residents. Power outages were reported in parts of Naples, and many families chose to remain outdoors or in their vehicles overnight, fearing further tremors.
Cuba, Havana – March 15, 2025
Cuba’s capital Havana plunged into darkness leaving several million without electricity across the island. Cuba’s grid collapsed after a transmission line at a substation in Havana shorted, beginning a chain reaction that completely shut down power generation across the island. Most Cubans outside Havana have already been living for months with rolling blackouts that peaked at 20 hours a day in recent weeks.
Mexico, Quintana Roo – March 25, 2025
A power outage left different towns in the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo, including the popular tourist destination Cancun, without electricity. Mexico sometimes consumes more electricity than its utility infrastructure can generate and transmit, raising the likelihood of outages, especially during heat waves.
Canada, Ontario – March 31, 2025
More than 350,000 Canadians homes faced power outages as an ice storm pummelled the region over the weekend. The storm with freezing rain cause widespread power outages, hazardous road conditions, downed trees and hydro lines, and damage to public and private infrastructure.
Kuwait – April 2, 2025
Kuwait temporarily cut electricity in some industrial and agricultural areas as demand for power surged due to hot weather, 38 degrees Celsius, outstripping generating capacity that had been restricted by maintenance at power plants. The outages lasted less than two hours before electricity was restored.
Puerto Rico – April 17, 2025
Most of homes and businesses in Puerto Rico were without power after a widespread blackout struck the island, including hospitals, airports and prisons. The widespread blackout was probably caused by a protection system failure as the trigger, followed by the presence of vegetation on a transmission line in the north of the island.
Ecuador, Quito – April 25, 2025
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck near the coast of Ecuador, followed by a second earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 minutes later in the province of Guayas. Several public buildings and private homes were damaged, and some areas also experienced power outages.
Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal) – April 28, 2025
The power systems of Spain and Portugal suffered a total blackout. A small area in France, close to the border with Spain, was also affected by the incident. Spain declared a state of emergency after a nationwide power blackout hit most of the Iberian Peninsula. The power cuts brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill with planes grounded, routine hospital operations suspended, and public transport halted. Spain has not reached any conclusions about what caused a major power outage.
USA, Pennsylvania – April 30, 2025
Severe storm with high wind gusts nearing 80 miles (128.75 km) per hour knocked down trees, broke utility poles and caused more than 20,000 separate reports of hazards. Nearly 450,000 homes in Pennsylvania were without power.
Indonesia, Bali Island – May 2, 2025
A power outage hit several regions of Bali after an undersea cable was reportedly severed, causing a widespread power failure across the island. The power outage plunged the tourist island of Bali into darkness, leaving residents and visitors without electricity for hours. The island’s airport was also impacted but inbound and outbound flight traffic continued using backup generators. The power was restored the day after.
Spain, La Palma Island – May 8, 2025
A power outage hit several areas of the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary archipelago. The island was not affected by the massive blackout that hit most of Spain and Portugal on April 28.
USA – May 17, 2025
Severe storms spawned tornadoes ripped across the two states, Kentucky and Missouri. Parts of the area was completely destructed, with entire blocks of houses reduced to splinters, and cars and pickup trucks left battered or crushed in the tornado’s wake. The tornado knocked down power lines and swept through a major thoroughfare during rush-hour traffic.
France, French Riviera – May 21, 2025
There was an orange alert for thunderstorms and rain-flooding in the region, 255 mm of water fell in one hour, causing an enormous wave, torn-up roads and torn-down bridges. The flooding has caused significant damage to the region in southeast France, causing power outages and damage to train tracks as water surged through the streets. They were left without electricity, drinking water, and wastewater treatment plant.
Australia, New South Wales – May 23, 2025
A slow-moving area of low pressure caused a record rainfall, and a natural disaster. The heavy rains caused major flooding in New South Wales (NSW) and left about 50,000 people isolated by floodwaters. More than 100 schools have been closed because of the floods, which have left thousands of homes and businesses without power.
France, Cannes May – 24, 2025
It is suggested that the outage was caused deliberately by a double act of sabotage, a fire broke out at an electrical substation in the nearby commune of Tanneron, and later in the morning, an electricity pylon suffered major damage. Around 160,000 homes in the city and surrounding areas lost power. It was the last day of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which has been held in the town for 78 years, with the closing ceremony scheduled to take place in the evening. Several screenings were interrupted by the power cut in the morning, before festival organisers were able to switch to private generators.
France, Nice – May 25, 2025
A second power outage in two days has hit the French Riviera region after a fire at a substation in Nice overnight. At the moment, no link has been established between the two incidents. At least 45,000 homes were affected after the blaze broke out. Tire tracks were found and the door to the substation was broken, it looks like the fire was caused by a malicious act.
Biography:
Rannveig J. S. Loken – Head of Protection department, Statnett, Norway, CIGRE TC Chair.
Received her Master of Science in Electric Power engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 1992. She works in Statnett, the TSO of Norway, currently Head of Protection department in Statnett. In August 2024 she became the TC Chair of CIGRE. Her special field of interest is protection and control for the transmission system. In addition, working in Cigre Working groups is of great interest – she is currently a member of WG B5.86. Rannveig is in the Advisory board of PAC world, Committee member of IET DPSP, and Member of the International Advisory Committee APAP.
