Power outage and high winds hit Greenland after U.S. tensions cool
Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, was hit by a widespread power outage after strong winds caused a transmission failure, according to the state utility, News.Az reports, citing Aljazeera.
The disruption comes as the Arctic island continues to grapple with tensions sparked by territorial remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump.
At about 10:30pm on Saturday (00:30 GMT, Sunday), social media users began reporting a sudden blackout that occurred at the same time, Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq reported.
The utility company posted on Facebook that gusty winds at the main Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant had caused “a line error on our transmission line” and that they were working to restore power with an emergency plant.
Water supplies were also affected in some areas, Sermitsiaq reported, as well as internet connectivity.
Power had been restored to 75 percent of the city’s population of about 20,000 by 3:30am on Sunday (5:30 GMT), the utility said in an update, calling on people to be conservative in their use of electrical devices as the utility continued to reboot.
The outage came on the heels of the government releasing a brochure with details about disaster preparedness that encouraged Greenlanders to store sufficient drinking water, food, medicine, warm clothing and alternative communication devices to last at least five days.
The government emphasised that the guidance was not an expression that a crisis was imminent. But Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, has been thrust into the geopolitical spotlight for weeks amid United States President Donald Trump’s escalating threats to seize the island.
Trump appeared to partly back off at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, claiming he had ruled out taking Greenland by force. He and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had agreed on a “long-term” framework for a future deal involving Greenland and the Arctic region, the president said.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said much of the supposed deal was murky, including whether Trump would seek control of territory near US military bases, as some reports suggested.
“I don’t know what there is in the agreement, or the deal, about my country,” Nielsen said.
By Salman Rahimli
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