Finistère blackout: 68,000 households affected, full restoration expected by evening

Quimper – June 24, 2026: On the evening of Tuesday, June 23, 2026, an accident occurred at a high-voltage substation of the French transmission system operator RTE in the municipality of Ergué-Gabéric near Quimper. This accident caused a power outage affecting up to 106,000 households in the southern Finistère region. The cause of the accident was accidental and has been linked to the currently ongoing high temperatures in the area. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.

The affected areas include Quimper, Briec, Pont-l’Abbé, Douarnenez, and others. The Finistère Prefecture formed a crisis response team to coordinate the situation and accelerate power restoration. Teams from RTE and Enedis worked throughout the night to progressively restore power supply. However, they informed that full power restoration would only be possible after the evening of June 24, 2026.

The sustained high temperatures in the region placed additional stress on the infrastructure. On the day of the accident in Ergué-Gabéric, temperatures reached up to 37 degrees Celsius, which is very unusually high for this coastal area.

The Prefecture emphasized that the cause of the accident was accidental and related to the extreme temperatures. However, it stated that full power restoration would not be achieved until at least the evening of June 24.

Meanwhile, emergency measures are being implemented to minimize the impact on affected households. Mobile generators have been provided particularly to facilities such as nursing homes affected by the outage to help maintain their operations.

The Finistère Prefecture has organized a crisis response team to coordinate the situation, while RTE and Enedis teams worked overnight to gradually restore power. Full restoration is expected after the evening of June 24.

The high temperatures in the region put significant strain on the infrastructure. In Ergué-Gabéric, temperatures rose to 37 degrees on the day of the accident, which is a very unusual figure for this coastal region.

The Prefecture reiterated that the accident was accidental and caused by extreme temperatures, and reported that full power restoration would only be possible no earlier than the evening of June 24.

Urgent measures have been put in place to reduce the impact on affected households. Mobile generators have been provided especially to facilities such as nursing homes affected by the blackout to ensure normal operations can continue.