Torrid temperatures that put stress on the electricity grid and increase consumption until the blackout. It happens every year, and this June 2022 that is a candidate to be one of the hottest ever is no exception.
In Milan, temperatures for days consistently above 30 degrees and the consequent increase in the use of air conditioners are causing many problems in many areas of the city. Thursday 16 June in the late afternoon for about half an hour the light went out in the center, with problems for all the large shops in Corso Vittorio Emanuele and for tourists queuing to go up to the Duomo. The situation will not change over the weekend since sunny days are expected with temperatures even above 35 degrees in Milan and throughout Lombardy, with the air conditioners always on and other inconveniences due to blackouts are foreseeable. Traffic lights in tilt for days in various city intersections.
At Bovisa no electricity for 6 hours
Numerous houses in the Bovisa district, on the northern outskirts of Milan, have been without light since 10 am on Friday 17 June. Unareti, a company that manages the distribution of electricity and gas, speaks in a note of “disruption in the Bovisa area which is expected to be restored in the late afternoon”. Overall, Unareti explains that in the last week there was a further increase in electricity consumption in Milan and that of yesterday was 25GWh, + 10% compared to the previous day and + 25% compared to last week. Yesterday, the note continues, “there were some interruptions in the service, which also affected the central area of the city, resolved in the vast majority of cases in a few minutes thanks to the remote control system and the activity of technicians in the area for more complex cases. In general, faults can occur in any area of the city, also based on the trend in consumption that influence the stress of the network ».
Blackout also in Turin
Several districts of Turin also remained in the dark on Thursday evening and tonight due to some blackouts that lasted from half an hour to 3 and a half hours, as in the Vanchiglietta area. According to reports from the IREN, there were some faults on the medium voltage network, with the return to service during the night. That of the summer blackouts, particularly in the month of June, when the hours of sunlight are long, is a phenomenon that tends to recur, and the cause, as known, are the high temperatures that cause stress to the underground cables, together with the greater demand for electricity by users. Only in the last week in Turin there was an increase in consumption of 11-12% compared to the previous week. A few years ago, Iren started a resilience plan for the gradual replacement of the network to equip it with cables that can better withstand the change in consumption and the changed climatic conditions. According to the energy company, at the moment consumption has returned to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
In Turin the red stamp on Sunday
Turin will be the hottest big Italian city of the weekend, with an orange sticker for the heat waves today and tomorrow and a red sticker on Sunday 19 June. Orange stamp today also in Perugia, Florence and Brescia. This was indicated by the Ministry of Health on the bulletin portal on heat waves in Italy, which monitors 27 Italian cities. For Milan and Rome “only” yellow sticker for the whole weekend.