Power Blackout

Cuba hit by another nationwide blackout in two weeks as fuel runs low

Cuba suffered another blackout of the National Electric System, or SEN, leaving the entire country without power, officials said. The blackout on Tuesday was the third such incident in two weeks as a US oil embargo stresses the island's grid. Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January, when US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island's ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries. Cuba produces only 40 per cent of the fuel it needs. A solution for fuel imports is not yet in sight. The state-owned Electric Union reported that a problem with a generating unit in the eastern province of Holguin caused "a sudden frequency change," resulting in the SEN blackout around midday. Both the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Electric Union indicated that "protocols for its restoration have been activated,

Havana faces up to 22-hour blackouts as Cuba runs out of diesel, fuel oil

Only a single large oil tanker, the Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin, has delivered crude oil to Cuba since December, providing temporary relief to the island in April

Massive San Francisco outage leaves 130,000 homes, businesses without power

A massive outage knocked out power to 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco on Saturday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co said. The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park in the early afternoon and growing in size. PG&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cause of the blackouts. The outage represents roughly one-third of the utility company's customers in the city. Social media posts and local media reported mass closures of restaurants and shops and darkened street lights and Christmas decorations. The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said on X there were significant transit disruptions happening citywide and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat down traffic signals as four-way stops. The city's transportation agencies said they were bypassing some Muni bus and BART train stations because of ..

Brazil's Sao Paulo blackout leaves 1.4 mn without power; flights cancelled

More than 1.4 million Sao Paulo residents had no electricity on Thursday after strong winds caused several trees to collapse onto the Brazilian metropolis' grid the day before. Local authorities said there were no injuries, but almost 400 flights were cancelled. Utility Enel has provided no deadline for services to return. One of its directors, Marcelo Puertas, told journalists the Italian company has 1,300 people working to solve the issue since winds of about 100 kilometres per hour started hitting Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo city hall said 231 trees have fallen due to what it calls effects of an extratropical cyclone formed in the south of Brazil. Aviation authorities say most of the cancelled flights were at the local Congonhas airport, but added that Guarulhos International Airport, outside the city, was also affected. Mayor Ricardo Nunes, whose administration is responsible for trimming the trees that were pushed against the grid, told journalists Wednesday night he had told the ...

Another full blackout hits Cuba as island's energy crisis worsens

A total blackout hit Cuba on Wednesday, the latest in a series of outages blamed on ageing infrastructure and fuel shortages at power plants. It was the second island-wide outage this year, with three other blackouts reported late last year. The Ministry of Energy and Mines said on social platform X that the latest outage could be tied to a malfunction at one of Cuba's biggest thermoelectric plants. Argelio Abad, the ministry's vice minister, said on state TV that the grid shut down after an apparently erroneous message warning of overheating disconnected the thermoelectric plant. He added that officials immediately began to build a type of microsystem to deliver electricity to infrastructure that provides basic services. The ministry said crews were working to restore power to the island of roughly 10 million people, with electricity returning to hospitals, food production plants and other high-priority businesses. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero made an appearance at Cuba's state-

Operation Shield: Why are blackout drills being held in border states?

The Indian government is launching a large-scale civil defence mock drill called ‘Operation Shield’ on May 31.

Spain hit by nationwide mobile network blackout weeks after power crisis

The mobile network blackout in Spain caused a loss of signal, inability to make calls, receive texts, or use mobile data, as well as access emergency numbers

Ports, vessels on heightened maritime security measures, blackout protocols

The shipping regulator earlier banned all vessels from Pakistan from docking at Indian ports

India on high alert: Schools shut, sirens sound as border tensions rise

Cities along India's western border are on high alert as Indian forces neutralise 50 Pakistani drones; blackouts, school closures, and evacuation orders have been issued

Shadows of war: How blackouts are impacting life in India's border towns

India-Pakistan tensions: Indian border towns plunge into darkness as blackouts are enforced amid escalating hostilities along the Line of Control

As India-Pak border heats up, here's all you need to know about blackouts

Due to the escalation by Pakistan, several border towns were plunged into darkness as authorities enforced blackouts as a tactical defensive move

7-hour blackout in Gujarat border districts amid India-Pakistan tensions

A total blackout for more than 7 hours was enforced in several parts of the border districts of Kutch and Banaskantha in Gujarat on Thursday night amid escalating tension between India and Pakistan, officials have said. Both Kutch and Banaskantha districts share a border with Pakistan. Officials confirmed that several parts of Kutch, including Bhuj, Nalia, Nakhatrana and Gandhidham towns, were put under total blackout as a precautionary measure to deter any offensive gesture by Pakistan. The lights went out around 10 pm on Thursday, and power was back after 5.30 am on Friday, they said. Similarly, blackouts were declared in Suigam and 20 villages in its vicinity in the Banaskantha district, they said. In the neighbouring Patan district, the authorities enforced a blackout in 8-10 villages in Santalpur taluka, said officials. Earlier on Thursday, wreckage of a 'drone-like' object was found at a remote place near Khavda village of Gujarat's Kutch district, close to India's border w

Civil defence mock drill: Lutyens' Delhi to face 15-minute blackout tonight

Hospitals, Rashtrapati Bhawan, PMO, and other important establishments will be exempted from the blackout drill

Spain's blackout shows why India needs to prioritise power grid stability

For a build-out without blackouts, regulators and the government will also need to work on better data, a more robust grid, and better-run companies

Spain may find valuable lessons from South Australia's 2016 blackout

On Sept. 28 in 2016, the state of South Australia's grid was hit with a blackout. At the time it was generating a high proportion of its power from wind turbines

Here's why restarting a power grid after massive collapse is so hard

It's unclear what caused the initial disruption or why it cascaded so dramatically into a widespread failure. But, notably, Spain has been one of the leaders in rolling out wind and solar generation

A mystery power outage forces Madrid to adjust to life off the grid

By the time Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez finally addressed the nation six hours later, people in downtown Madrid were gathering around the old-fashioned transistor radio to get the latest news

Power firms in Puerto Rico under scrutiny as officials demand fewer outages

Two private power companies came under scrutiny Wednesday while they presented plans to stabilize Puerto Rico's crumbling electric grid as officials demanded immediate action to minimize chronic power outages. The presentations by Genera PR, which operates the generation of power in the U.S. territory, and Luma Energy, which handles transmission and distribution, lasted more than five hours as they answered questions by Puerto Rico's Energy Bureau and others. The bureau had ordered both companies in June to produce aggressive plans to improve the island's electric system, which was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 but was already failing prior to the Category 4 storm given a lack of maintenance and investment under Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority. We continue to see a high rate of critical failures, said Daniel Haughton, Luma's planning director. The ongoing outages come as crews make permanent repairs to the grid following Hurricane Maria, which caused an estimated $9.7 ...

Puerto Rico's power firm suspends $65 mn worth of maintenance projects

The private operator of Puerto Rico's power grid confirmed Monday the deferral of $65 million worth of maintenance and improvement projects in the U.S. territory, with some repairs postponed for at least a year because of budget constraints, putting at risk the already troubled grid and sparking a widespread outcry. Some of the deferred projects include maintenance of more than 100,000 light posts, fire mitigation and repairs on underground circuits, among other improvements. Luma Energy's head of regulatory affairs, Mario Hurtado, told The Associated Press on Monday that the suspended projects, which he aims to bring back next year, risk more outages across the island. The risk is always that there will be more failures in terms of public lighting, Hurtado said. At a budget hearing on Friday, Hurtado said Luma Energy prioritized other tasks based on professional judgment, which they consider calculated risks. The lack of fire mitigation puts the grid at risk as hotter temperature

Outage in Ecuador leaves millions in dark after transmission line fails

A failure in an energy transmission line on Wednesday produced an unexpected blackout throughout Ecuador, the government said, days after announcing that there would be power outages in the country due to production problems. Ecuador's Minister of Energy Roberto Luque said in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the failure was reported by the country's National Electricity Operator and caused "a cascade disconnection", leaving the nation without energy service. He added that efforts are being made to solve the problem and repair faulty power lines as soon as possible. In some sectors of the country the outage lasted 20 minutes, but media outlets and social media users reported that the problem continued in most cities. Emilia Cevallos, a waitress in a restaurant north of the capital, Quito, said the blackout was surprising. "We thought it was only in this sector, but when we left we realised that while some stores had connected generators, the majority did not have ...