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Technical failure blamed for major power failure in Netherlands

Xinhua, March 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

A technical failure as a result of a particular set of circumstances have caused a major power outage in large parts of the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Flevoland Friday, Dutch grid operator for electricity Tennet has announced.

The power failure started at around 9.37 a.m. local time after a defect in a high-voltage substation in the town of Diemen, bordering Amsterdam.

Within an hour, Tennet managed to restore power in some parts of the provinces. Nevertheless, it took some time to restore the power supply in North Holland and Flevoland completely. At 3.30 p.m. local time, all affected households had electricity again.

"The last power outage of this size was in 1997. We do not know the exact cause yet. We will investigate that and will have an external party do an investigation as well," Mel Kroon, CEO of Tennet, told Dutch news show Nieuwsuur on Friday.

Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur will also investigate the power failure.

The power failure had a massive impact in the two provinces. A total of around 1 million households were affected by the failure, according to power supplier Liander.

Rail traffic was severely affected the whole day in North Holland and Flevoland and in the provinces of South Holland and Utrecht. Thousands of travelers were stranded at major train stations in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Air traffic at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was also severely disrupted on Friday. Around 20 flights were cancelled and many were delayed. In addition, part of the public transport in Amsterdam was out of service, and some hospitals and the Media Park in Hilversum ran on emergency power. Enditem