Public Power Corp. (PPC) employees at midnight launched rolling strikes against the company’s privatisation bill, taking 13 units (3,400 MW) offline, according to a company announcement.

The distribution network operator announced the schedule for one-hour rolling power cuts in several areas of the country – excluding the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki – as a precaution against a possible collapse of the system.

The blackouts are scheduled between 11.00 and 14.00. The schedule is provisional, the operator said, and is subject to changes depending on the amount of power missing from the system and on the level of demand.

No problems have been reported so far, as demand is still low. The use of air-conditioning units may cause certain problems later in the day.