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On Thursday, a large-scale power blackout affected some areas of Prague and the northern Czech Republic, preventing transport networks, hospitals, and emergency services, and affecting thousands of residents throughout the capital.
The blackout, the most severe to strike the Czech power grid in recent history has started shortly after noon. It extended to massive parts of Central Bohemia, as well as to the Usti, Liberec, and Hradec Králové regions. In the capital city of Prague, Metro trains on all three lines (A, B and C) were halted, while trams on the right bank simply stopped running mid-way through their routes. Traffic lights around the city also ceased to work that resulted in several accidents.
In the meantime, firefighters handled a record 215 distress calls from persons stuck in elevators across the country as early as 2 PM. Hospitals in the affected provinces, among them Kutná Hora and Hradec Králové, had to use backup power. Some operations were delayed and patients who was depended on oxygen machines were left exposed.
How was the extent of Power Outage In Prague?
Prague’s primary airport: Václav Havel Airport, was fully functional even though the extent of the outage was large. All the scheduled flights were operating as usual. Mobile and internet services were impacted minimally, although some 1,000 mobile network stations temporarily shifted to backup systems.
A breakdown in the nation’s high-voltage transmission network was the reason behind the blackout. The fault was attributed to the V411 transmission line, the Czech Republic’s highest-voltage line that is situated in the north. A phase conductor carrying electricity fell, disconnecting eight substations, five of which were brought back online by the afternoon.
The officials of the Industry and Trade Ministry have confirmed that the power cut was not a result of a cyber attack or malfunction of renewable energy sources. They stated that the reason was the collapse of a power cable, but the real cause for the breakdown is still under investigation. CEPS issued a state of emergency after the collapse of the V411 line and a simultaneous problem with Unit 6 of the Ledvice power plant. After all the chaos, power was finally restored to the majority of affected areas by 6 PM local time.
