Curaçao hit by day-long blackout, power slowly restored

Curaçao was left without power for almost a full day on Wednesday after a sudden blackout struck the entire island at around 3 a.m. local time. The outage disrupted daily life, closing schools, government services, and many shops, while electronic payments were often impossible. The power returned in most areas on Wednesday evening.

Electricity company Aqualectra later explained that the blackout was triggered by a sudden change in wind strength. The resulting voltage swings caused all of the island’s power installations to shut down in sequence. With much of Curaçao’s energy supplied by wind, the disruption quickly spread across the grid.

Restoring electricity proved slow and complex. By Wednesday afternoon, only 20 percent of households were reconnected, climbing to 60 percent by early evening. Technicians struggled to bring neighborhoods back online without overloading the fragile network, which repeatedly collapsed under heavy demand. Aqualectra said areas were being reconnected “in small steps” to avoid further failures.

The government urged residents to save electricity as power returned. Prime Minister Gilmar “Pik” Pisas and Aqualectra both asked people to switch off air conditioning and lights to ease the strain. Education Minister Sithree van Heydoorn announced schools would remain closed on Thursday because of the ongoing problems.

By late Wednesday, most households had power again, though Aqualectra warned the grid remains unstable and offered no guarantees on when the last homes will be reconnected.