The electricity is out in various areas including the city center, Nedre Bäck, Hökmark, Furuögrund, Kåge, Bergsbyn, Ursviken, and Skelleftehamn, according to information provided to Norran.

Skellefteå Kraft's website is down.

Update 14.57:

Skellefteå Kraft, the company responsible for the network, is currently investigating the issue.

– It's a significant power outage. We don't know the extent or the cause of the problem at the moment, says Mimmi Jonsson, Communications Manager at Skellefteå Kraft.

Update 15.07:

According to Skellefteå Kraft's outage map, at least 18,000 Skellefteå Kraft customers in Skellefteå are without power.

According to information provided to Norran, the power is now back in Skelleftehamn.

Due to the power outage, shopping is currently not possible at ICA Maxi, according to the store's staff.

Update 15.10:

Mikael Boström, area manager for the Skellefteå property unit of Skellefteå Hospital, was on his way to a meeting regarding the power outage when Norran reached him. He mentions that they need to check the backup systems but that the hospital can function for an extended period without electricity.

Update 15.15:

There are reports of traffic chaos in several locations in Skellefteå due to non-functional traffic lights.

– There's confusion, people are unsure how to drive. There are traffic jams on the E4 at Kanalgatan and Solbacken, says Hampus Berglund Svensson, a reporter from Norran.

Approximately 45,000 customers are affected, according to Skellefteå Kraft.

Update 15.21:

As of 15.19, electricity has been restored to Norran's editorial office.

A few minutes ago, it was still unclear what caused the power outage.

– The entire municipality of Skellefteå is affected by the outage, said Jonsson at 15.15.

Update 15.41:

Jonsson from Skellefteå Kraft confirms that power should now be restored to everyone. She also states that the cause of the major outage has been identified:

– The cause was a fault in a transformer station in our regional network, she says.

Was it a targeted attack of some kind?

–There is no indication of that, she responds.

It is concerning that so many people can be affected by a fault in a substation.

– Unfortunately, these types of errors can occur, Jonsson explains.

Has there been a power outage of this magnitude before?

– I'm not sure if we've had such a large-scale outage before. However, there have been major power outages in the past, including one a few years ago during a thunderstorm," she adds.

According to information provided to Norran, residents in Jörn have not experienced a power outage.

Update 16.34:

Skellefteå Hospital announces that power has been restored, and the hospital is transitioning back from backup mode. 

The power went out at 2:30 p.m., and the backup power was immediately activated. 

No significant disruptions to hospital operations are reported. The backup power is now being switched off.