Four countries in the Balkans were hit by a summer heatwave on Friday while power outages lasted for hours.
Large swaths of the coast of Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro and Croatia were affected by afternoon power outages, which were triggered by a surge in demand after households turned on their air conditioners to cope with the heat.
In Bosnia and Croatia, traffic lights were canceled, causing traffic chaos in big cities such as Sarajevo and Split.
Suppliers said they had largely restored power by evening but were still trying to pinpoint the location of the fault in the four countries’ interconnected power systems.
The shutdown was first reported at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), with even water pumps in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica halted.
The blackout also dealt a blow to the Croatian resort’s peak tourist season, leaving holidaymakers in Dubrovnik in disarray after restaurants, bars and supermarkets closed.
As the long, hot afternoon wore on, temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius across the region.
Montenegrin Energy Minister Sasa Mujovic said on state television that a “sudden increase in electricity consumption due to high temperatures” was to blame.
Montenegro’s Vijesti TV reported that a fire broke out on a transmission line in a rugged area near the Bosnian border, although it did not specify how this was related to the blackout.
Albanian officials said power was restored within half an hour but the risk of further outages was high as energy use remained high.
Energy production in the western Balkans is moving away from coal, which accounts for the majority of the region’s greenhouse gas emissions.
But industry officials say that despite a major push for solar investment, decrepit power infrastructure is not yet fully prepared for the change.
