Parts of Florence and Bergamo were left without electricity this week as extreme heat continued to strain Italy’s power infrastructure.
On Wednesday afternoon, a new blackout hit areas of Florence, following a similar disruption on Tuesday. E-Distribuzione, part of the Enel Group, confirmed that a double fault along the “Minzoni” electrical backbone left residents without power in the area between Via Giacomini and Piazza Savonarola.
The company reported that soaring temperatures triggered a surge in electricity demand while also causing underground cables to overheat and expand, leading to faults and line overloads. Damage was also identified in the city centre between Via Medici, Via degli Speziali, Piazza della Repubblica, and Via del Corso.
Homes, hotels, offices, and shops were affected, with several areas in central Florence experiencing outages during peak afternoon hours.
The city of Bergamo has also been grappling with power cuts since Tuesday afternoon. The blackouts disrupted traffic lights, stranded people in elevators, and left several artisanal businesses and homes without power. The historic Città Alta district was hit in the morning, followed by outages near the Gewiss Stadium and surrounding neighbourhoods later in the day.
Enel technicians are working to restore power in both cities. The company explained that high temperatures are driving up air conditioner use, overloading the medium-voltage network and worsening the physical stress on underground cables.
This week’s outages come as Italy faces an intense heatwave, with red alerts in place across 18 cities and emergency room visits up by 20% nationwide. Power infrastructure in urban centres is increasingly vulnerable under such pressure, exposing the growing risks posed by extreme weather events linked to climate change.
