On 18 May 2025 in the early morning hours, a partial blackout occurred in the power system of North Macedonia.

The incident resulted in a loss of almost 100% of load in the electricity system of North Macedonia for one and a half hours (from 04:59 to 06:27 CEST). The actions set up by the Transmission System Operator (MEPSO) of North Macedonia enabled a quick restoration of the power system. The rest of the Continental European power system was not significantly affected by the incident.

Before the partial blackout, unusually high voltages were observed on MEPSO’s network, along with very low consumption and very low cross-border electricity flows via interconnections with neighbouring TSOs. The forthcoming investigation will analyse the relationship between these observations and the partial blackout.

In accordance with the Incident Classification Scale methodology, ENTSO-E is establishing an Expert Panel to perform a detailed investigation of this event. The Expert Panel will be chaired by a recognised expert from a TSO who was not affected by the incident, and will be composed of experts from several TSOs including MEPSO, Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs), the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs). The investigation will be split into two phases. First, the panel will collect and analyse all available data on the incident and determine the causes of the blackout. These insights will be completed and published in a factual report. In the second phase, the panel will establish recommendations to help prevent similar incidents in future, which will be published as a final report.

Contact: media@entsoe.eu