Power fully restored after massive blackout affected parts of Czechia

Electricity supply has been fully restored following a major blackout that left up to one million customers across Czechia without power. The outage, which began shortly before noon on Thursday, disrupted parts of Prague, Central Bohemia, the Liberec and Ústí nad Labem regions, and eastern Bohemia. At a press briefing, Industry Minister Lukáš Vlček (Mayors and Independents) and ČEPS (national grid operator) head Martin Durčák said the cause was a cascading failure triggered by a fallen phase conductor. The exact circumstances are still under investigation. ČEPS confirmed all substations were operational again by 2:50 p.m. Transport and daily life were significantly affected during the outage.

The outage disrupted public transport, including metro, trams, and rail services, and left parts of the capital without electricity for over half an hour.  Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (Mayors and Independents) activated the Central Crisis Staff in response, saying that the government was working to determine the scope and cause of the disruption. Firefighters were dispatched across Prague to rescue people trapped in elevators and respond to reports of smoke caused by backup diesel generators. Transport Minister Martin Kupka asked the public for patience, and Prime Minister Petr Fiala (bpth Civic Democratic Party) called the situation “exceptional,” assuring citizens that restoring electricity remained a top priority. The national cybersecurity agency ruled out a cyberattack as the cause of the failure. Power supply has been gradually returning across the affected areas.