By bne IntelliNews
A major power outage hit Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and most of Croatia's coast on June 21, causing widespread disruption.
The outage came amid an early summer heatwave across much of the region that has sent temperatures soaring as high as 40C in some areas.
The problems are believed to have started in Montenegro, after which power was also cut in Bosnia and parts of Croatia, Croatian news agency Hina reported, quoting sources at the Croatian Transmission System Operator.
Montenegro's energy minister told Reuters the shutdown was due to a sudden spike in power consumption due to high temperatures, with people across the region switching on their air conditioners, overloaded the systems.
Meanwhile, Albania was affected by a separate problem in an with Greece, as announced by Energy and Infrastructure Minister Belinda Balluku on June 21 in a video posted on Facebook. Again, this was blamed on the high levels of consumption combined with unusually high temperatures. She warned that there is a risk of further shutdowns.
The ongoing heatwave has gripped Southern Europe, affecting Greece, Italy and other countries in the region as well as the Balkans.
The problems intensified on June 21 when electricity networks went down across the region around 1pm CET. The power distribution network in the Balkans is interconnected, exacerbating the issue.
Suppliers in the affected countries began restoring power by mid-afternoon, and by evening, power was largely back.
Region-wide heatwave
North Macedonia is among the countries that has faced particularly high temperatures throughout June, peaking at 40C in the capital Skopje on June 20 and 21, severely impacting daily life. bne IntelliNews’ correspondent in Skopje said that while people are used to heatwaves in July and August, but this weather is highly unusual for June. She reported people have their air coolers working all day, and it has become virtually impossible to go out between noon and 7pm.
In response, the government advised pregnant women and those over 60 not to work from June 19 to June 23. Physical activities and outdoor play in kindergartens were discouraged between 11am and 5pm.
Given the early arrival of heat in June, Macedonian citizens increasingly opt for summer vacations during this month and September, rather than the traditional months of July and August.
Adding to the discomfort, specialised portals and meteorological institutions have reported that several cities in North Macedonia also experienced highly polluted air on June 20-21 as the current air flow over Mediterranean countries, including the countries in the region, carries not only heat but also Sahara sand.
Sizzling in Belgrade
Serbia also recorded temperatures up to 40C this week. Health authorities and meteorologists declared a “red” weather alert and advised people not to venture outside. Belgrade’s emergency services said its doctors intervened more than 100 times overnight on June 19, mainly treating people with heart and chronic conditions.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment told employers to organise outdoor work in such a way to avoid heavy physical labour and direct exposure to sun.
In Belgrade, thousands have flocked to the artificial lake on Ada Ciganlija to seek refuge from the heat in its questionable waters, reports bne IntelliNews’ correspondent in the Serbian capital. Others have chosen the city’s fountains to get a momentary relief.
The heavily made up faces of presenters on Pink and Happy TV have been melting as they present their daily doses of state news.
The British embassy in Belgrade chose the hottest week of the year to host the king’s birthday party at the ambassadors residence in Dedinje. Dolled up embassy wives and suited officials fanned themselves while picking on strawberries and cream, magnum ice cream and fish and chips.
Elsewhere in the region, traffic light failures caused gridlock in the Bosnian cities of Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar. Parts of the Montenegrin capital were left without running water as the power outage caused water pumps to fail.
In Croatia, emergency generators were switched on to enable hospitals and other crucial facilities to continue working, as announced by Health Minister Vili Beros.
The Romanian authorities have banned vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes from the roads in several counties between 10am and 8pm to alleviate damage from extreme heat on road surfaces.
Fire risks
Wildfires, a recurrent threat in the region, are also a concern. Due to the rising fire risks, director of the Crisis Management Center (CMC) in North Macedonia Stojance Angelov, advised citizens to report any fire or smoke they notice to the emergency number 112. He particularly urges caution during high temperatures, recommending that people refrain from lighting fires in yards and weekend settlements, as these can escalate into large-scale fires.
Angelov highlighted both the resources and challenges in North Macedonia's firefighting efforts. Despite having over 900 firefighters and ample equipment, including 105 fire trucks and four helicopters, there are critical gaps. Notably, some firefighters lack proper protective gear, posing significant risks. He urged efficient coordination among municipalities to swiftly address fires, emphasising the need for prioritised use of aircraft where most needed.
Romanian prices soar
Elsewhere in the region, bne IntelliNews’ Bucharest correspondent reports that with no wind and a nuclear reactor idle, the heatwave is pushing up the electricity price.
The calm, sunny days during the heatwave that hit Romania and is here to stay for a while means the electricity price sky-rockets after the sun goes down. Now that a nuclear reactor is idled for routine maintenance works, the price peaks prompted by the intermittent production of the PV parks and prosumers are steeper, illustrating the urgency and economic viability of power storage capacities.
Romania is now relying on hydropower producer Hidroelectrica to be the main source of electricity during the day and to power the air conditioning units during the hot nights — as long as the company still has enough water in its reservoirs.
The average electricity price on the day ahead market reached 129 €/MWh on June 21 , from €78 a week earlier. The peak price during two hours (8pm to 10pm) will reach €300, compared to €135-140 a week earlier. After the morning peak (€120 compared to €90-100 last week), the price drops below €100 per MWh until 18:00 when people return from work and turn on the air conditioning while the PV parks diminish their production.
The installed capacity of the residential PV installations, the so-called prosumers, will increase from 1.7GW currently (which equals the capacity of the PV parks) to 2GW at the end of the year, according to estimates of the energy market regulator ANRE.
In the meantime, the development of power storage capacities is in its infancy. Czech Tesla has not began works at the €90mn factory it is building in Braila where it plans to produce such storage devices with an capacity of 2GWh per year and ABEE (Avesta) of Belgium put on ice its promise for €1.4bn in a much larger factory in Galati.
Climate change
Southeast Europe is already experiencing more extreme weather events including heatwaves and deadly floods, linked to climate change.
Cities in the region will see some of the sharpest increases in average temperatures of any major urban areas worldwide, according to a 2019 study.
The study, published by Zurich-based Crowther Lab, looks at shifts in climate conditions in 520 of the world’s major cities as a result of climate change. The authors aim to help people visualise the tangible effects of climate change by forecasting which cities today’s urban centres will resemble by 2050; in almost all cases a hike in temperatures is expected, sometimes by as much as 7-8C. It finds that cities in Southeast Europe will have temperatures resembling those in the deep south of the US within the coming decades.
