Major power blackouts are often the result of a glitch in the supply or distribution of electricity, an unexpected imbalance between production and demand, or a dilapidated network.
Following the release on Tuesday in Spain of a government report stating a major power outage that struck the Iberian Peninsula in April was caused by "overvoltage", here is a roundup of other recent nationwide or regional outages.
March 2025: Cuba Substation Outage
Cuba's eight thermal power plants, nearly all dating to the 1980s or 1990s, experience regular failures.
The last major outage was in March 2025 at a substation near the capital Havana which then spread nationwide, affecting most of the cash-strapped island's 9.7 million people.
It was the fourth in less than six months.
February 2025: Chile Transmission Breakdown
Chile experienced its worst power blackout this century in February 2025, affecting an estimated 95 percent of the country's 20 million people.
The government imposed an overnight curfew and a state of emergency.
The network's supervisor said the incident was caused by a dysfunction in the control system in a power plant in the north of the country, which caused a breakdown in transmission between two circuits.
August 2024: Venezuela Dam Breakdown
Venezuela was hit in August 2024 by a nationwide power cut, blamed by President Nicolas Maduro on "sabotage" by the opposition.
But several experts blamed it on a breakdown in the Guri hydroelectric plant, the main source of Venezuela's electricity, and on the fragile network.
June 2024: Balkans Heatwave
In June 2024 a sudden heatwave combined with a surge in electricity consumption saw power grids overwhelmed in Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia, southern Croatia and Montenegro.
June 2024: Ecuador Transmission Line Breakdown
Ecuador in June 2024 suffered a nationwide blackout for several hours, in what Energy Minister Roberto Luque said was a "breakdown in the transmission line, which caused a chain of disconnections" leading to a countrywide failure.
"For years there has been a lack of investment in these systems and electrical grids and today we are suffering the consequences," he said.
September 2023: Tunisia Power Plant Breakdown
In September 2023 a sudden breakdown at the Rades power plant in the southern suburbs of Tunis caused an overnight nationwide blackout for about three hours.
The electricity and gas company STEG said it involved the breakdown of a high tension transformer at Rades, after a rise in humidity levels.
- January 2023: Pakistan, rationing and dilapidation -
In Pakistan, a massive breakdown affected 240 million people in January 2023. Electricity rationing measures as well as the dilapidated distribution network caused the power cut, expert Sooraj Narayan said.
October 2022: Bangladesh Imbalance
In October 2022, 130 million Bangladeshis were cut off from power. Eyakub Ali Chowdhury, who headed a commission of enquiry, blamed an imbalance between production and distribution and a lack of coordination.
2000s: Europe, High Tension Lines
Before the massive power cuts in Spain and Portugal on April 28, 2025, the continent had been hit by a series of outages due to high-voltage power lines.
On September 28, 2003, Italy was cut off for several hours. The sudden breakdown of a high voltage line taking power from Switzerland to the peninsula caused the power cut.
In November 2006, part of western Europe was plunged into darkness: 10 million people in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
The outage was caused by the deliberate turning off of a high voltage line in northern Germany to allow the passage of a liner, which had the domino effect of knocking out several high voltage lines, according to a report by the French Energy Regulation Commission (CRE). – AFP/RSS
