Houses are seen near the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo) Greenland’s capital Nuuk was hit by a city-wide power outage late on Saturday after an accident, the local utility company Nukissiorfiit said.
The blackout affected the entire city at the same time, according to residents. Electricity went out across neighbourhoods, prompting concern and widespread discussion on social media.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Nukissiorfiit said the outage was caused by an accident but did not give further details.
“Due to an accident there is a power failure throughout the city. Nukissiorfiit is working on regenerating power with emergency generator,” the utility said.

Greenland’s police also confirmed the power disruption in a separate Facebook post. Like the utility company, police did not explain what caused the accident or how long repairs were expected to take.
Social media users in Nuuk reported the outage shortly after it began, with posts warning of disruptions to homes and businesses. Authorities later confirmed the power cut and said efforts were under way to restore supply using backup systems.
The outage comes days after Greenlandic authorities updated emergency preparedness guidelines earlier this week. The update followed comments by US President Donald Trump expressing interest in acquiring the Danish territory, though officials have not linked the power failure to those developments.
Nuuk, home to about one-third of Greenland’s population, is the country’s political and economic centre. Power disruptions can affect essential services, especially during winter conditions, though officials have not reported any injuries or major damage linked to Saturday’s outage.