Climate change a rising threat for power networks

During last week’s large wildfire in northeastern Attica, personnel at the Independent Power Transmission Operator performed feats of juggling in trying to avoid large-scale power cuts amid sweltering conditions. In the end, cuts remained local.

But with the climate crisis bringing more frequent extreme weather phenomena, the chances of large outages increase. This was learned the hard way in June by a number of Balkan countries whose systems were designed for winter peaks due to high demand for heating. A prolonged heatwave upended their plans.