PRAGUE, July 4 (Xinhua) — A major power outage struck the Czech Republic on Friday, disrupting several regions, including parts of the capital of Prague, since noon, according to authorities.
The outage affected eight of the country’s 44 high-voltage substations, resulting in power cuts in the Liberec, Usti nad Labem, Hradec Kralove regions in the north, the Central Bohemian Region and parts of Prague, the Czech Electricity Transmission System (CEPS) reported.
CEPS spokesman Lukas Hrabal said on the social media platform X that the blackout was triggered by a mechanical failure of a phase conductor on a high-voltage line. “The conductor simply fell. We are still investigating the cause,” he noted.
In response to the power outage, police have increased patrol activities in the affected areas. However, they are still short of information to confirm the outage was caused by “a cyber or terror attack.”
The disruption severely impacted transport and public services. “We are currently dealing with a power outage, mainly in Prague and several regions. On several railway lines, trains have come to a halt, and public transportation dependent on electricity is affected,” Transport Minister Martin Kupka wrote on X.
The Fire and Rescue Service said it was coordinating efforts with regional branches and monitoring potentially high-risk locations. Hospitals remained unaffected thanks to emergency generators, while Prague Airport and major motorway tunnels remain in normal operation.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the outage also affected approximately 1,000 mobile network stations, which are now functioning using backup power. Mobile phone coverage and internet access were also temporarily disrupted in many areas.
Power was restored in Prague after 2 p.m. (1200 GMT), but according to Minister of Industry and Trade Lukas Vlcek, some substations in the north, particularly in the Liberec region, remained offline. Vlcek warned that further outages could not be ruled out, though he emphasized that the national grid remained “robust.”
CEPS announced later that all substations of the transmission system in the Czech Republic are back in operation and electricity supplies are gradually being restored in the distribution networks of individual regions. However, tens of thousands of customers are still without power by 5 p.m. — nearly five hours after the outage, according to the Czech News Agency.
The full restoration of the electricity supply is expected by the evening at the latest, the news agency reported. ■
