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From May 13 to 15, the Luzon and Visayas grids were placed under red and yellow alerts, signaling tight electricity supply during peak demand in the hot and dry season, when electricity demand for cooling surges. The situation began when transmission line trips in southern Luzon coincided with multiple generating units on planned outage or operating below capacity, quickly tightening reserves and leading to shortfalls and rolling power interruptions in affected areas.
A similar situation is emerging in Europe, where nearly half of the continent’s 850 largest cities are experiencing their most severe heat stress on record, driven by the combined effects of high temperatures and humidity. More humid conditions are reducing the body’s ability to cool itself through sweating, intensifying the health risks associated with extreme heatwaves.
Record-breaking temperatures are sharply increasing demand for cooling, driving up electricity use across Europe during heatwaves. Space cooling, largely from air-conditioning and fans, accounted for about 7% of global electricity consumption in 2022. While Europe has historically had relatively low air-conditioning adoption, with around 20% of homes equipped, usage is gradually rising as summers intensify.
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Heatwave Impacts Across Countries
In France, more than half of its 96 departments were placed under a red “danger to life” alert, with authorities urging people to avoid direct sun exposure and exercise extreme caution. The country recorded its hottest day since measurements began in 1947.
The extreme heat also contributed to disruption in the country’s power system, including a transformer-related outage that left around 68,000 households without electricity in the northwest. Officials also reported at least 48 drowning deaths linked to people seeking relief from the heat, alongside fatalities involving young children left in overheated vehicles.
In the United Kingdom, the Met Office recorded its hottest June day on record at 35.7°C and issued rare red heat health alerts across parts of England and Wales. Schools were closed in some areas, and Eurostar cancelled train services due to extreme conditions.
Elsewhere, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal are also facing intense heat, with Spain reporting some of its highest June temperatures on record and several heat-related deaths. Italy issued red alerts across 16 cities, including Rome and Milan, as daily life was increasingly disrupted.
The heatwave is expected to spread further east, with Poland, Croatia, and Hungary issuing high-level warnings as temperatures approach or threaten to exceed historical records.
Soaring Electricity Demand and Prices
A comparative study by price comparison site Compare the Market, covering 85 countries and around 90% of global electricity use, found that electricity demand rises significantly during the hottest periods of the year. Greece recorded the largest increase, with demand jumping by about 38%, followed by Montenegro, Türkiye, Croatia, Italy, and Spain. The analysis compared consumption during the hottest 10% of months with normal temperature conditions.
At the same time, Europe’s power markets have been under strain from both higher demand and weaker supply, driving electricity prices sharply higher. In Great Britain, the system operator has been paying record premiums to import electricity during peak evening hours, with prices reaching more than six times higher than a year earlier.
In the third week of June, electricity prices across most European markets remained higher than in previous weeks, with the largest percentage increases recorded in France (217%), Portugal (88%), and Spain (83%), reflecting widespread upward pressure across regional power markets.
Meanwhile, Italy’s large number of households means it bears the highest estimated annual cost from power outages among the European countries examined. Outages are estimated to cost Italian households around €154.7 million a year, slightly ahead of Poland at €152.1 million.
The figures are based on a standard “value of lost load” approach used in energy economics, which estimates the broader cost of being without electricity. This includes impacts such as food spoilage, loss of heating or cooling, disrupted internet access, and general inconvenience, rather than reflecting actual electricity prices.
Can Renewables Hold Europe’s Power Grid Together?
In France, hourly prices fell below zero around 1 pm on May 26. Similar episodes have occurred before, with analytics firm Montel reporting that negative electricity prices on the Iberian Peninsula hit a record in the first quarter of 2026.
Negative pricing happens when electricity supply exceeds demand in day-ahead markets, where generators bid on how much power they will sell and at what price. Under ideal weather conditions, solar and wind output can surge so strongly that producers underbid one another to avoid being curtailed, especially when subsidies or contractual payments still make generation worthwhile or when shutdown and restart costs are higher than continued operation. The outcome is periods of oversupply that the system struggles to absorb.
At the same time, Europe’s grid is struggling to keep pace with rapid renewable expansion. Although investment in electricity networks has risen by 47% over five years to about €70 billion annually, experts say it remains insufficient. Ember warns that more than 120 GW of planned renewables are at risk due to inadequate grid capacity, including 16 GW of rooftop solar affecting over 1.5 million households. Much of the infrastructure was designed around centralized fossil fuel generation rather than today’s more distributed wind and solar systems, creating bottlenecks in transmitting and integrating power across the grid.
Storage constraints add to the challenge. The EU installed 27.1 GWh of new battery energy storage in the past year, marking 12 consecutive years of record growth, and its total fleet has expanded more than tenfold since 2021 to over 77 GWh. However, SolarPower Europe estimates the bloc would need around 750 GWh by 2030, requiring another tenfold expansion to keep pace with renewable growth.
Heat is also disrupting other energy sources. Higher river temperatures are raising concerns over nuclear output in France, where cooling becomes more difficult, while wind generation has weakened under persistent high-pressure systems. Bloomberg data showed below-normal wind forecasts in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, with French output falling to around 0.5 GW at one point, compared with an average of 7.4 GW this year. In the UK, wind’s share dropped to 13–15% of electricity generation versus about 30% last June.
Even solar is affected by extreme heat. While clear skies boost output, photovoltaic efficiency falls by roughly 0.4–0.5% for every degree above 25°C, as rising temperatures reduce performance.
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Climate Adaptation Turns Critical
Europe is no stranger to extreme heatwaves. In the summer of 2022 alone, more than 60,000 people died from heat-related causes across the continent.
Carolina Pereira Marghidan of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center noted that following the devastating 2003 heatwave, many countries introduced early warning systems and action plans. “Research shows that those have saved many lives, but it’s not enough,” she stressed.
The UK government’s official advisory body, the Climate Change Committee, acknowledged that the country’s infrastructure was “built for a climate that no longer exists” and requires urgent upgrades to better protect people from the impacts of climate change.
Experts in heat and public health are urging a mix of adaptation measures, including better home shading, improved ventilation, and more urban green spaces. They also highlight the need for stronger hospital preparedness and community checks on elderly or vulnerable people during heatwaves.
While some warn that widespread air-conditioning could increase blackout risks and worsen
urban heat, they support its targeted use in places such as hospitals, schools, and public transport. The World Health Organization (WHO) echoed this balanced approach, noting that air conditioning is “not a sustainable societal solution” but “remains crucial” for those most at risk from extreme heat.
With net zero targets still struggling to curb climate impacts, the World Resources Institute (WRI) highlighted that climate action rests on two pillars: mitigation, which cuts emissions, and adaptation, which helps societies cope with the effects. It noted that investment remains uneven, with adaptation funding lagging far behind mitigation.
Similarly, political scientist Bjorn Lomborg argued that many estimates of climate damage are overstated because they downplay adaptation. “None mentions the fact that even an extremely stingy adaptation would reduce costs by 88%, and any realistic adaptation would reduce it much, much more,” he wrote.
Lessons The Philippines Can Learn From Europe’s 2026 Heatwave
Europe’s 2026 heatwave highlights a key energy reality: extreme heat not only raises electricity demand, but it stresses the entire power system, from generation and cooling to transmission and reliability. For the Philippines, where heat, rising demand, and grid constraints are already structural risks, these patterns offer clear lessons on system resilience.
Renewables are essential but not fully firm or dispatchable. Solar performs well during daytime heat, but demand often peaks later in the day. Wind output can also weaken during stagnant weather systems. This means reliability still depends on firm capacity, like natural gas and coal.
The heatwave also shows how extreme temperatures expose infrastructure weaknesses. Cooling constraints can reduce power output, while transmission and distribution systems come under added strain. Strengthening grid resilience is therefore as important as expanding generation.
While battery storage is growing, it remains a short-term balancing tool rather than a full substitute for firm power. Europe’s reliance on gas and imports during peak stress underscores a pragmatic reality: energy security depends on layered systems, not single solutions.
Sources:
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/05/17/opinion/columns/about-those-power-supply-alerts/2345560
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/05/31/opinion/columns/a-better-goal-for-energy-expansion/2354989
https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/06/25/1139690/europe-heat-wave-grid
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/24/power-outage-in-france-as-europe-bakes-in-record-heat
https://www.wri.org/insights/strategies-achieve-climate-mitigation-adaptation-simultaneously
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162520304157
https://aleasoft.com/summer-heat-wave-demand-prices-european-electricity-markets/