Greenland’s capital Nuuk sees city-wide power outage: Here’s the REAL reason
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Greenland’s capital Nuuk sees city-wide power outage: Here’s the REAL reason")
Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) glow above the city of Nuuk during a power outage on January 25, 2026, in Greenland. Photograph: (AFP)
A major power outage plunged Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, into darkness. The blackout disrupted internet services and came amid heightened political tensions over the Arctic island.
A major power outage struck Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, at a time when the Atlantic country is faced by US President Donald Trump’s threats, who has expanded his push to seize Denmark’s sovereign territory. The power outage forced the city’s around 20,000 people into darkness and has also affected the internet connectivity on the island. The city’s power supply was disrupted around 10:30 pm on Saturday (Jan 24). The power was only restored in some parts of the city, even after three hours.
Why did the power outage happen?
According to the state utility, Nukissiorfiit, the outage over the weekend happened after strong winds caused a transmission failure. In a post on its Facebook page, the company said that it was in the process of restoring supply through an emergency power plant.
Meanwhile, internet monitor NetBlocks reported a sharp decline in connectivity in Green, “with high impact to capital Nuuk”.
The outage comes amid Trump’s escalating Arctic rhetoric. Thousands have been protesting on the streets of Greenland and Denmark against the US president’s push to acquire the territory. Since he took office in January 2024, Trump has repeatedly suggested taking over the Arctic island, citing its strategic importance and threats from Russia and China.
Earlier on Wednesday (Jan 21), Trump shifted his stance on tariffs imposed on Greenland’s European allies, announcing a framework deal with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aimed at ensuring the security of Denmark’s sovereign territory at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Trump said that he will not be imposing the tariffs scheduled to go into effect on February 1. Meanwhile, the Danish government slammed the move, saying that NATO chief Mark Rutte cannot negotiate on their behalf. Greenland has also repeated its stance, saying that the people of Greenland will decide its fate.
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