The Italian power grid is increasingly showing signs of strain: blackouts are not just the result of growing demand but the direct consequence of a climate changing too quickly for infrastructure designed in a different era.
Turin, Milan, Palermo, Conegliano, Rome. Cities that differ in history and geography, yet are united by a growing phenomenon that, until a few years ago, was considered rare and is now increasingly common: the electrical blackout. Over the past three years, power outages have multiplied across Italy, often striking during the summer. And the cause of these events is not only the rising demand for electricity to cool homes and offices but also—and perhaps above all—the heat itself.
It’s not just about grid overload. The issue is physical and structural. Rising temperatures damage electrical materials, reduce their transport capacity, and accelerate their aging. Underground cables overheat, joints fail, transformers approach their safety limits. All this happens while millions of air conditioners, switched on to combat the sweltering heat, place even more stress on the system, pushing it toward collapse. And yet, we are still talking about summers with temperatures around 35 or 37°C.
What will happen when, in a few years, average temperatures steadily exceed 40°C?
The pattern is confirmed by recent events. In June 2025, Turin experienced a prolonged blackout that affected over 200,000 people. Conegliano saw entire neighborhoods without power for a full day. In Milan, a sudden outage plunged the city into darkness. And in technical circles, July 15, 2025, is being closely watched—simulations identify it as a potentially critical day for a national power crisis. The recent past hasn’t been kinder. In Palermo and Catania during the summer of 2023, some areas were left without electricity for days. In Rome, during the same period, hundreds of passengers were trapped in metro cars, without air conditioning or phone service. In Milan that same month, more than 460 outages were recorded.
These events are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a grid built for a different era. The Italian—and more broadly, European—power system is based on a centralized model, where energy is produced in large plants and transported over hundreds of kilometers. But when a main line overheats or a substation fails, the entire balance collapses. In April, Spain and Portugal experienced a blackout lasting over ten hours, affecting millions. And once again, weather conditions played a decisive role.
Yet another path exists. Quietly, beyond the radar of political debate, local, autonomous, modular energy solutions are spreading. Off-grid systems powered by solar panels and batteries, capable of operating without connection to the main grid. One such solution is Barrel—a small, portable solar power plant designed to provide energy continuity in challenging contexts: remote hospitals, isolated schools, humanitarian centers. The system is already in use in several African and Middle Eastern countries. But its underlying logic—distributed, resilient, accessible energy—is equally applicable to Europe. Because blackouts are no longer a remote threat. They are a concrete, imminent, and recurring risk.
We need investment. We need a strategy. We need a policy that stops treating energy as a given—eternal and untouchable. Because the climate is changing, and infrastructure must change with it. Blackouts are no longer just a technical issue. They are a matter of safety, dignity, and the future.
And if we don’t act now, the next blackout will be longer. Broader. More dangerous.