In what seems to be more than just coincidence, Europe has been hit by a string of major power outages in recent months—some now under investigation for potential sabotage. From southern France to the Iberian Peninsula and Northern Europe, the incidents have left hundreds of thousands without electricity, disrupted critical infrastructure, and raised an uncomfortable question: Could these blackouts be part of something bigger?

The most recent event occurred in Nice, France, on May 25, 2025, when around 45,000 homes lost power after a fire at a local power station. What initially looked like a technical failure quickly turned suspicious. Mayor Christian Estrosi pointed to “malicious acts,” and prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation. This came just 24 hours after a similar outage struck nearby Cannes, disrupting the world-famous film festival and plunging 160,000 households into darkness.

The timing and targets—Cannes during a globally watched event, and then Nice—have left locals and observers wondering if this was more than just bad luck.

Zooming out, the pattern becomes more unsettling. In April 2025, a massive blackout hit Portugal, Spain, Andorra, and parts of France, lasting nearly ten hours. It brought entire cities to a standstill and resulted in multiple deaths due to system failures. Authorities traced the cause to a sharp drop in generation in southern Spain, but the scale and speed of the spread raised eyebrows.

Earlier in the year, Storm Éowyn wreaked havoc across Ireland and Norway, knocking out power for over 500,000 people. In December 2024, Storm Darragh did the same in parts of France. While nature can’t be blamed on sabotage, these back-to-back events stretched emergency response systems and tested grid resilience—perfect scenarios for exploitation.

One of the most suspicious incidents came on Christmas Day 2024, when the Estlink 2 undersea power cable between Finland and Estonia suffered an abrupt failure. Investigators believe the cable was damaged by a Russian-linked oil tanker dragging its anchor—possibly on purpose. If proven true, it could represent a rare and bold attack on European energy infrastructure.

When looked at individually, these outages have different explanations—storms, equipment failures, technical limitations. But taken together, especially with incidents now being investigated as deliberate, the idea of a coordinated pattern doesn’t seem far-fetched. Cybersecurity experts have long warned that Europe’s aging grids are vulnerable—not just to bad weather, but to bad actors.

Governments across the EU are now under pressure to not only harden their energy infrastructure but also treat these events with the seriousness of potential national security threats. Whether this is a case of growing pains in a decarbonizing energy system or signs of a hidden campaign remains to be seen.

One thing is clear: Europe’s power grid is under stress. And someone, somewhere, might be watching very closely.