The 2021 Lebanon blackout was a power outage in Lebanon that started on 9 October 2021, after two of the country's power plants shut down when they ran out of diesel fuel. The two power stations provided 40% of Lebanon's electricity. Due to this, the power grid was shut down nationwide. [1]
Because of the ongoing Lebanese liquidity crisis, the Lebanese pound lost over 90% of its value, leaving the government unable to pay for fuel imports, [2] resulting in a general shortage of fuel in Lebanon, including for its power plants. The fuel shortage also meant that people and businesses could not run their private fuel-powered electricity generators. [1]
The power outage started on 9 October, after the Zahrani Power Station ran out of fuel. The day before, the Deir Ammar Power Station had also stopped running for the same reason. With both plants shut down, national power production was limited to 270 megawatts, making the grid severely unstable, so that the grid was shut down nationwide at noon that day. [3] [1] Power had not been expected to come back on for several days, although that turned out to be wrong. [4]
On 10 October, Banque du Liban, Lebanon's central bank, released $100 million to the Lebanese Energy Ministry to enable it to import fuel. [5] In the meantime, the Lebanese army delivered 6,000 kilolitres (1.6 million gallons) of diesel fuel to both of the two power plants, and power was restored that day, after 24 hours of the blackout. [6]
Protests took place in Halba outside the offices of Électricité du Liban, the state-owned power company, as well as protesters blocking roads with burning tires in Tripoli. [1]
An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply national electricity grids or those used as fuel in industrial development. Population growth has led to a surge in the global demand for energy in recent years. In the 2000s, this new demand – together with Middle East tension, the falling value of the US dollar, dwindling oil reserves, concerns over peak oil, and oil price speculation – triggered the 2000s energy crisis, which saw the price of oil reach an all-time high of $147.30 per barrel ($926/m3) in 2008.
A rolling blackout, also referred to as rota or rotational load shedding, rota disconnection, feeder rotation, or a rotating outage, is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped for non-overlapping periods of time over different parts of the distribution region. Rolling blackouts are a last-resort measure used by an electric utility company to avoid a total blackout of the power system.
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and most parts of the Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, beginning just after 4:10 p.m. EDT.
As of April 2020, the energy sector in Senegal has an installed capacity of 1431 megawatts (MW). Energy is produced by private operators and sold to the Senelec energy corporation. According to a 2020 report by the International Energy Agency, Senegal had nearly 70% of the country connected to the national grid. Current government strategies for electrification include investments in off-grid solar and connection to the grid.
The utility electricity sector in Bangladesh has one national grid operated by Power Grid Company of Bangladesh with an installed capacity of 25,700 MW as of June 2022. Bangladesh's energy sector is not up to the mark. However, per capita energy consumption in Bangladesh is considered higher than the production. Electricity was introduced to the country on 7 December 1901.
The Ceylon Electricity Board - CEB, was the largest electricity company in Sri Lanka. With a market share of nearly 100%, it controlled all major functions of electricity generation, transmission, distribution and retailing in Sri Lanka. It was one of the only two on-grid electricity companies in the country; the other being Lanka Electricity Company (LECO). The company earned approximately Rs 204.7 billion in 2014, with a total of nearly 5.42 million consumer accounts. It was a government-owned and controlled utility of Sri Lanka that took care of the general energy facilities of the island. The Ministry of Power and Energy was the responsible ministry above the CEB. Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), established by the CEB Act No. 17 of 1969, was under the legal obligation to develop and maintain an efficient, coordinated and economical system of electricity supply in accordance with any licenses issued. The CEB was dissolved and replaced by 12 successor entities under the 2024 Electricity Act.
The 2011 Southwest blackout, also known as the Great Blackout of 2011, was a widespread power outage that affected the San Diego–Tijuana area, southern Orange County, Imperial Valley, Mexicali Valley, Coachella Valley, and parts of Arizona. It occurred on Thursday, September 8, 2011, beginning at about 3:38pm PDT, and was the largest power failure in California history.
Energy in Lebanon is characterized by a heavy reliance on imported fuels, which has led to significant challenges in ensuring a stable and sufficient supply of electricity. The country’s energy sector has been severely affected by a combination of internal political instability, external conflicts, and systemic corruption. The reliance on imported energy, coupled with rising demand and frequent infrastructure failures, has led to an ongoing energy crisis. This crisis has been further exacerbated by the destructive effects of military conflicts involving Hezbollah, particularly the wars against Israel and the war in Syria, which have strained the country's infrastructure and economy.
Two severe power outages affected most of northern and eastern India on 30 and 31 July 2012. The 30 July 2012 blackout affected over 400 million people and lasted about 13.5 hrs. During that period, it was the largest power outage in history by number of people affected, beating the January 2001 blackout in Northern India. Similar conditions caused a blackout on the next day, which remained the largest power outage in history as of June 2024. The outage affected more than 620 million people, spread across 22 states in Northern, Eastern, and Northeast India. An estimated 32 gigawatts of generating capacity was taken offline. Of the affected population, 320 million initially had power, while the rest lacked direct access. Electric service was restored in the affected locations between 31 July and 1 August 2012.
Energy is a major area of the economy of California. California is the state with the largest population and the largest economy in the United States. It is second in energy consumption after Texas. As of 2018, per capita consumption was the fourth-lowest in the United States partially because of the mild climate and energy efficiency programs.
Palestine produces no oil or natural gas and is predominantly dependent on the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) for electricity. According to UNCTAD, the Palestinian Territory "lies above sizeable reservoirs of oil and natural gas wealth" but "occupation continues to prevent Palestinians from developing their energy fields so as to exploit and benefit from such assets." In 2012, electricity available in West Bank and Gaza was 5,370 GW-hour, while the annual per capita consumption of electricity was 950 kWh. National sources only produce 445 GWh of electricity, supplying less than 10% of demand. The only domestic source of energy is the disputed Gaza Marine gas field, which has not yet been developed. Palestinian energy demand increased rapidly, increasing by 6.4% annually between 1999 and 2005. Future consumption of electricity is expected to reach 8,400 GWh by 2020 on the expectation that consumption will increase by 6% annually.
The Electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip is an ongoing and growing electricity crisis faced by nearly two million residents of the Gaza Strip, with regular power supply being provided only for a few hours a day on a rolling blackout schedule. Some Gazans and government institutions use private electric generators, solar panels and uninterruptible power supply units to produce power when regular power is not available.
Électricité du Liban is a public industrial and commercial establishment in Lebanon which controls 90% of the country's electricity production, transmission and distribution activities.
South Africa's energy crisis or load shedding is an ongoing period of widespread national blackouts of electricity supply. It began in the later months of 2007 towards the end of Thabo Mbeki's second term as president, and continues to the present. The South African government-owned national power utility, and primary power generator, Eskom, and various parliamentarians attributed these rolling blackouts to insufficient generation capacity.
Nationwide recurring electrical blackouts in Venezuela began in March 2019. Experts and state-run Corpoelec sources attribute the electricity shortages to lack of maintenance and to a lack of technical expertise in the country resulting from a brain drain. Nicolás Maduro's administration attributes them to sabotage. Since March, various nationwide blackouts occurred in the country.
In February 2021, the state of Texas suffered a major power crisis, which came about during three severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February 10–11, 13–17, and 15–20. The storms triggered the worst energy infrastructure failure in Texas state history, leading to shortages of water, food, and heat. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, some for several days. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly, with some estimates as high as 702 killed as a result of the crisis.
The 2021–2022 global energy crisis has caused varying effects in different parts of the world.
The 2024 Lebanon blackout is an ongoing total nationwide power outage across Lebanon that began on 17 August 2024 due to the state electricity company of Lebanon, Électricité du Liban, running out of fuel reserves for its power plants. The blackout led to a widespread water shortages due to the inability of Lebanese water corporations to pump water in effective amounts, as well as the halting of several fundamental institutions across Lebanon, including, wastewater treatment systems, ports, airports, and prisons.
The 2024 Cuba blackout is an ongoing total nationwide power outage across Cuba that began on 18 October 2024 due to the failure of the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant as direct result of years of neglect of the nations electricity grid under communist rule. Prior to the shutdown, the Cuban government announced energy-saving measures. The blackout is the most severe energy crisis that the country has experienced since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.