On the morning of 28 April, a major electricity supply blackout struck the Iberian Peninsula, cutting power to millions. Between 12:38 and 13:30 CET that day, Spain’s transmission system was disconnected from the European grid at the 400 kV level owing to an issue with a power line connecting French and Spanish Catalonia. The fault triggered a domino effect disrupting electricity supply not only in Spain but also in Portugal, Andorra, and parts of France.
Although Spain’s transmission system operator, Red Eléctrica, restored 99% of the electricity supply by the morning of 29 April, the event, says Eurelectric, the association that represents the common interests of the EU’s electricity industry, serves as a powerful reminder of the critical importance of Europe’s electricity grid.
While the exact cause is still under investigation, Eurelectric’s secretary general Kristian Ruby was able to state in a BBC interview that “What we do know is that we had a very serious incident – one that has had major impacts in several European countries at the same time. Something that is very very rare.” Later Mr Ruby enlarged on this as far as was possible at the time in a statement by Eurelectic, that while the cause of the blackout has yet to be defined, there were reports of anomalous oscillations in the high voltage lines before the power shut down. These oscillations caused synchronisation failures between the electrical systems and eventually ended in disturbances across the interconnected European network. However the Spanish system operator was able to rule out cyber attack as the cause.
Yesterday, 29 April, investigations into the root cause of the blackout were still ongoing. The blackout said Mr Ruby, was a wake-up call. It showed that the need to modernise and reinforce Europe’s electricity grid is urgent and unavoidable. Now is the time to invest in the infrastructure that powers everything.
Effects
The blackout disrupted key infrastructure across both Spain and Portugal, affecting public transportation, traffic signals, hospitals, manufacturing plants, digital payment systems, as well as nuclear power facilities.
Banking systems were interrupted, auto traffic control systems went dark, metros were stopped, and intercity trains were halted. Hospitals were particularly affected, with many having to activate on-site generators and reduce services while power was restored.
