Danish capital loses power
The Danish capital, Copenhagen, and parts of Sweden have been hit by
massive power cuts.

Around four million homes and businesses lost supplies at around 1240 local
time (1040GMT). Engineers restored most power by late afternoon, but the
exact cause of the cuts remained unclear.

The problem stretched as far north as the Swedish capital, Stockholm, where
the underground railway reportedly shut down for half an hour.

The blackout follows similar incidents in London earlier this month, and in
a huge swathe of North America in August.
Sabotage was not suspected, police said, but some residents said their
first thoughts were of a possible terrorist connection.

"People were out everywhere and there was a sense of fear as to what this
meant," said one emailer to BBC News Online.

"Blackouts happen in the winter, but this made us wonder, since we have
seen New York and London this year."

Electricity officials said the power cuts started when a main transmission
line connecting Sweden and Denmark was affected.
Reports said a storm which swept through the area, bringing down trees, may
have been a factor, but electricity officials said it was impossible to
confirm whether the timing was a coincidence.

At least two Swedish nuclear plants - Oskarshamn and Ringhals - appear to
have then developed problems and had to shut down production units.

Two million consumers in southern Sweden and 1.8m in Copenhagen were
affected.

Some people were trapped in trains in a tunnel linking the Danish islands
of Funen and Seeland. Others were stuck in lifts for up to two hours.

The Danish island of Bornholm was also hit.

Traffic chaos

Copenhagen airport and the Oeresund bridge and tunnel, linking the capital
to Sweden, were reportedly closed, with scenes of traffic chaos in
Copenhagen centre.


Railway and underground train services ground to a halt. Officials said
passengers on at least two new driverless underground trains were
evacucated without incident.


The (nuclear) security systems worked just as they should
Anders Jorle
Nuclear inspectorate
Reporters said hundreds of people emerged from shops in Copenhagen city
centre to see what was happening, and used their mobile phones to contact
their families.
Hospitals switched to be using emergency generators.

Nuclear power officials insisted that there was no safety threat from the
shutdowns, which happened if there were big imbalances in the network and
pressure suddenly fell.

"The security systems there worked just as they should," said Anders Jorle,
chief spokesman at the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate.


We asked you for your power cut experiences and views. Here is a selection
of your replies.

Something's afoot methinks. What's with all these blackouts? Anyway, the
Danes are pretty cool and take things like this in their stride. I'm sure
the capital will be operating at its usual efficiency after a few hours.
Very, very strange though...
Julian Howkins, Denmark

The third major power outage in two months... the two other ones happened
in countries where government supported the war too. Time will tell if
there is a link between all theses blackouts. Hopefully it is just bad
luck...
Sebastien, Denmark

If Europe is more closely interconnected, as is intended, could a simple
incident in a small area lead to the collapse of each interconnected region
like a domino effect? Is this because the spinning reserve capacity of the
regions affected are insufficient to take up the shortfall in available
power?
Gordon Gosling, England


The Danish power cuts have affected Greenland as well. The Bank of
Greenland announced that the power cuts had affected all transactions
between Greenland and Denmark, leaving Greenlanders with no oportunity to
shop.
Edward Moerch, Greenland

I got stuck in a lift for an hour. There were seven of us - five women and
two men. The women were really terrified. When power was restored a few
minutes ago, there was hugging and kisses as soon as we got out of the
lift.
John Birongo, central Copenhagen

I went down to the city centre where almost all the shops, government
agencies, coffee houses, street lights, had a blackout. People were out
everywhere and there was a sense of fear as to what this meant. I have not
seen something like this in my 14 years in this country. Blackouts happen
in the winter, but only up in northern Sweden, due to the snow. But this
made us wonder, since we have seen New York and London this year.
Helsingborg/Sweden


I think it is unbelievable that such a modern country can have such
terrible emergency systems
Shane King, Sweden

I was awakened by the sound of four cars crashing into each other outside
my window because of the non-working traffic lights. People were stuck in
the elevators of my building for almost two hours. I guess this shows how
dependent we are on certain things and how vulnerable our society is.
Henrik S., Sweden

I work in a helpdesk serving the Scandinavian countries, and of course, the
power cut resulted an influx of phone calls from users, when they couldn't
connect to Copenhagen, where the regional headquarters of our company are
located. Many feared a terrorist attack and were really afraid.
Mika Torvinen, Belgium

I live in Norrköping, far north from this area, and, still the power was
down here for some hours. We had experts in the media warning after the
much bigger blackout in northern USA, that this could happen in Sweden too.
If it can happen this easily just because of an accident like this, then we
must be even more vulnerable to an intended sabotage.
Johan, Sweden


When north-eastern America was hit by massive power shortages, Danish
electricity supplier NESA publicly stated on national TV such a thing would
never be able to happen in Denmark
Jesper Pedersen, Denmark

When the phones went dead (ours lasted for one hour on the emergency
battery pack) I got things done in the office that would otherwise have got
lower priority. Let's have a one-hour power cut every day, just to do other
things that get disrupted by phones and the constant blip announcing a new
incoming email.
Thomas Bjorn Larsen, Denmark

I was trapped in the capital with very few ways of getting home. I managed
to hitch-hike a lift home, but still it took more than two hours for a 30-
minute journey. I saw the traffic chaos that streched for many miles
outside Copenhagen, and and witnessed a motorway accident.
Jesper Edelmann Colmorten, Denmark

Just a short while ago when north-eastern America was hit by massive power
shortages, Danish electricity supplier NESA publicly stated on national TV
such a thing would never be able to happen in Denmark - in fact lights
would not even blink if one power supply went out, it was said. They were
right... for more than three hours no lights have blinked and the power is
still gone.
Jesper Pedersen, Denmark

Unexpectedly ISPs and mobile phone companies did not have sufficient backup
power to last even 30 minutes. Compared to the four-hour power cut last
year in Jutland, the effects are far worse this time. Maybe a sign of
different levels of disaster preparation.
Denmark

Traffic stood still in Malmo, otherwise a nice long coffeebreak.
Sweden


I just think that all the power cuts are somehow related. I definitely
think there is some sabotage involved even though officials deny it
Rohan, USA

I think it is unbelievable that such a modern country can have such
terrible emergency systems. The phone system in Sweden began to crash
almost immediately the power went down. It is clear that a country such as
Sweden with little chance of natural disaster such as earthquakes is
completely unprepared for such a problem as cut power. I am just glad it is
still summer and not 20 degrees below. Was there no testing of the system
for back up prior to 2000 like most Western countries?
Shane King, Sweden

I just think that all the power cuts that happened in the major cities, New
York, London and now this are somehow related. I definitely think there is
some sabotage involved even though officials deny it.
Rohan, USA

All rather bizzare really. In winter maybe, but a beautiful sunny autumn
day? Everything just went dead - lights, phones, PCs.
Denmark

For all the things that have gone wrong, I am still amazed at how well
people handled themselves. Traffic was flowing nicely, the buses were
running and people were very nice about making room for one another. But
information has been horrible. No-one knew what was going on, many people
were without cell-phone coverage and the like.
David Warmind, Denmark

I am sitting in my home in Denmark and the only link I have to information
is through the internet - connected through a dial-up modem and with my
notebook going on battery. Outside my window the traffic is chaos, the
shops are closed, but every one is talking the situation with a smile - so
far!
Anders Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Nearly 10,000 delegates at a major cancer conference were left in the dark,
their sessions interrupted, their PowerPoint presentations rendered
useless, and journalists unable to file their copy from the conference as
everyone twiddled their thumbs for an hour-and-a-half until power was
restored.
Emma Mason, UK , working in Copenhagen


I have never experienced a power-cut in Denmark before - it makes you
wonder how dependent on electricity we all are.
GB, Copenhagen

Now we have electricity back in Blekinge, Sweden, but only a few hours
without and everyone is lost. Shops and banks and almost everything was
closed for a while but life goes on. People should not be so dependent on
electricity but we are...
Peppi, Sweden

I just stepped out of the underground metro, when everything suddenly
blacked out. The local trains were also affected. I have never experienced
a power-cut in Denmark before - it makes you wonder how dependent on
electricity we all are. Many Danish internet sites are still not up and
running.
GB, Copenhagen

We thought it was just our building and went into town to buy a pizza. The
pizza baker explained the situation. So we went to get a sandwich instead.
The sandwich place was indeed open (candle lights), but we couldn't pay.
Neither of us had cash and the online credit card system didn't work.
Interesting how dependent we are on electricity.
Kai Müller, central Copenhagen, Denmark

After Swedes realised there was no way to get over the bridge, they decided
to go for a beer. At the cafe strangers were chatting with each other, and
I heard one of them saying: "I imagine it was like this during the Second
World War." Back at the office we drank yet another outage beer, and now,
as the power has returned, my concentration is ruined.
Morten Petersen, Denmark

I was sitting eating lunch in Elsinore, when suddenly all the power went
down the drain. The traffic lights didn't work, so the streets were pure
anarchy. Funny to see how people react when things like this happens. They
get all exited when everything is out of control. Maybe because we live in
a very controlled enviorment.
Lars Wolter, Denmark

What are the odds that this series of blackouts is perpetrated by a
terrorist organisation testing their ability to exploit ageing electricity
networks before launching one massive, synchronised attack supported by a
comprehensive series of power cuts across the western world? I mean, we
were told the London power cut was caused by a "fault" but that means
diddly squat - they important thing is what caused the fault...
Anthony, England

I was in the subway when the power failure happened. Everyone was terrified
because it rarely happen here in Stockholm. We had to wait for a couple of
minutes in the dark before the back-up lights got activated.
Pippi Langstrump, Sweden

Good luck everybody! I had a nice long walk home (five hours to be exact)
when the power went out here in New York CIty. What I found was that people
in New York really calmed down, pitched in, and helped each other out in
ways that reminded me of the spirit of togetherness we felt after September
11th happened. I hope that things go as smoothly in your part of the world.
Mark Ellis, USA


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3132332.stm

Published: 2003/09/23 17:11:23 GMT

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