France's National Grid Denies Responsibility in Italian Blackout

Sept. 28, 2003

PARIS, (Xinhuanet) -- France's national grid formally denied responsibility in the huge blackout that plunged most parts of Italy into hours of darkness at dawn on Sunday.

"We formally deny that the origin of the power cut is France," a spokesman of France's Reseau de Transport d'Electricite, or the Electricity Transport Network (RTE) said on Sunday morning.

In an earlier statement, the RTE said "two powerlines of very high-votage supplying electricity from France to Italy were cut briefly at 0325 (0125 GMT) Sunday, probably as a result of stormy conditions in the region."

"The supply could have been restored straight away if the line had been re-established on the Italian side. The electricity was available for Italy. We don't know why they did not resort to it,"said the spokesman.

Earlier in the morning, a spokesman of the Italian electricity company ENEL said there was a sudden shortfall of around 3,000 megawatts from around 3:00 am (0100 GMT), for a reason yet to be established.

Another ENEL spokesman told Italy's RAI Uno television that twoof the four transmission lines through which Italy imports current from France were cut for an unknown reason.

The electricity was progressively being restored shortly before dawn and ENEL said it expects a return to normal power supply across the country soon.
The blackout disrupted civil aviation, railway transportation and normal life of residents. Thousands of passengers were blocked in around 100 trains. In big cities, passengers were trapped in the subway.

In Rome, the blackout came as hundreds of thousands of people celebrated Rome's first "White Night," an extravaganza of cultural events.

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