As the planet warms, power grids around the world are increasingly failing to cope with the demands and challenges posed by climate change.
Recent events from Albania to Texas highlight the vulnerability of electricity grids, and point to the urgent need for major improvements to global infrastructure in this area.
Kuwait and the United States
Bloomberg said that many countries are experiencing power outages this summer, as residents in Kuwait suffered from continuous power outages as temperatures rose to more than 50 degrees Celsius.
“No one understood the importance of taking preventive measures. You have to plan years in advance,” Fouad Al-Aoun, a former official at Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity and Water, told the agency.
Network operators in Kuwait were forced to shut down parts of the network to prevent a complete power outage.
In the same context, Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, faced power outages. Retired police officer Drago Martinovic said: “After one hour without electricity, we were on the verge of panic, because the situation became unbearable.”
The power outage, according to Bloomberg, disrupted traffic, disrupted the internet and triggered security alerts. Similar incidents have been reported worldwide, indicating a growing risk of power outages.
In Houston, USA, millions were without power following Hurricane Beryl, with the situation exacerbated by extreme heat.
California and Texas have faced significant challenges with their electrical grids. California experienced frequent power outages during the extreme summer heat waves of 2020 and 2022.
The Texas grid collapsed in February 2021 during a severe winter storm, killing 246 people and causing more than $195 billion in property damage.
From Ecuador to India
From Ecuador to India, recent power outages have revealed the widespread impact of climate-induced power outages.
Ecuador experienced its worst power outage in two decades last June, affecting subway passengers who had to walk through unlit tunnels.
The New Energy Fund estimates that $24.1 trillion is needed to modernize global energy grids to achieve net zero energy targets by 2050.
The $3 billion Koka Kodo Sinclair hydropower plant, which normally supplies about a quarter of the country’s electricity, has become a liability with more than 7,000 cracks discovered in its infrastructure. The plant’s failure last month cut off power to the entire country.
Mexico’s electricity grid is under severe stress due to hotter, drier summers.
In Chihuahua, Mexico, a power outage in June disrupted water supplies to more than 70,000 people for two weeks.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged $13.6 billion to build renewable energy capacity, gas-fired plants and new transmission lines, even though analysts estimate that $38 billion will be needed over the next five years to meet growing demand.
Infrastructure Challenges
The Bloomberg report said that high temperatures lead to increased demand for cooling, reduced efficiency of solar panels, and caused electrical equipment to fail.
The head of the UK’s National Grid, John Pettigrew, has called for a “super-grid”, a higher-voltage network that connects countries to better manage these challenges.
Climate crises expose electricity grids to various threats, including flash floods, droughts, and increased demand for cooling during extreme temperatures.
“The entire energy system was built and designed for one climate era, and now it is being asked to operate in a different climate era,” says Michael Weber, an energy professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
The New Energy Fund estimates that $24.1 trillion is needed to modernize global energy grids to achieve net zero energy targets by 2050.
The United States and China, with their vast landmasses and high energy use, face the biggest bills, but no country is exempt from the need for energy investments, according to the agency.
Other Arab countries
It is noteworthy that many Arab countries are also suffering from power outages. Egypt is currently suffering from a shortage of electricity at a time when a heat wave has led to an increase in demand for cooling methods. The country needs to import natural gas and fuel oil (mazut) worth about $1.2 billion to eliminate the power outage crisis.
Countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Syria are also suffering from a record decline in electricity production, which has led to multiple outages that sometimes reach 20 hours a day, according to a previous report by Al Jazeera Net.
