(Bloomberg) – The worst blackouts have hit Europe for more than a decade, dragging to much of Spain and Portugal even as power grid operators in Spain gradually recovered power from parts of the country.
According to grid operator Red Electrica, demand for the grid was 18.3 GW by 9 p.m., about three-quarters of what happened around 12:30 PM local time. An hour ago, the operator reported that nearly 20% of Spain’s power supply was restored.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in a speech to the country on Monday night, suddenly had a power outage, destroying public transport, telephone services and airports, and there was little to offer sympathy.
“We are aware of the relevance and implications of what is happening today, the severity of people’s daily lives, the economic losses to businesses, companies and industries, and the anxiety caused by thousands of homes,” he said. The Spanish Ministry of Interior also declared a state of emergency in five regions at the request of these regions.
Power outages of this scale are very unusual and are at a time when grid systems in Europe are under pressure due to an increasing number of renewable energy sources. Although it is not clear what causes the problem, solar energy production across Europe is particularly strong at this time of year. The surge in solar energy means that electricity prices have turned negative in weekends in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The last power outage occurred in Europe was in 2006, when about 15 million households were affected. This power outage is caused by a drop in frequency originating in Germany and divides the region into three. It lasted for two hours, and Spain’s collapse had already gone far beyond that, without a clear look.
The transmission grid needs to maintain a stable frequency to operate smoothly, and any deviation will damage the equipment. When the grid frequency starts to change rapidly, it causes so-called oscillations, which can cause chain reactions to eventually lead to power outages. This is what happened in Spain, but how to propose the sequence is still uncertain.
“We still have no concluding information about the reasons for the cut,” Sanchez said. “It’s better not to speculate. We’ll know the reasons, and we don’t rule out any assumptions.”
“At present, the investigation appears to point to a technical/wired issue,” the EU cybersecurity agency said in an emailed statement, but added that it is “closely monitoring” the situation and engages with national and EU authorities.
Although some parts of Spain, including parts of Madrid, are gradually returning to online in the afternoon, restoring all supply in the country will be at least until evening, according to Grid operator Red Electrica.
This event shows the vulnerability of the grid. When a transmission line fails, it overloads the others and “you have a cascading effect”, Artjoms Obusevs, a senior researcher at the Zhaw School of Engineering in Switzerland.
Most parts of Spain and Portugal lost their momentum around noon. Data from Red Electric showed that shortly after noon in Madrid, demand for free-falling electricity fell by 10 GW, more than one-third of the country’s total electricity that day.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said his government is working with Spain to find out the origins of the power outage. In a social media post, he said his administration is working with authorities to rebuild energy supply on Monday and prioritize national health systems, transportation and other critical infrastructure.
Spain may face doubts about its decision to retire its nuclear power plant, which currently accounts for 20% of its power portfolio. It will also close its last coal-fired power plant this year to support gas plant renewable energy backups.
The stock market is operating normally in both countries. Spain’s IBEX35 will recover shortly before the outbreak, but will rise soon after the recovery, but it will encounter interference. A spokesman for the country’s antitrust watcher CNMC has postponed a meeting where it may have decided to bid for the BBVA SA to buy Banco de Sabadell SA.
Although Spain’s Canary and Balearic Islands are not affected, public transportation, traffic lights and telephone services are mostly spread throughout the mainland.
In Madrid, office staff fill the city’s financial district, while ambulances cross the main access Castellana Avenue, where traffic brokers use spokespersons on the car to guide vehicles and personnel. The ATM in the city center is not working properly, and Madrid’s main airport warns that it is experiencing a high level of delay.
In order to speed up recovery, Spain is opening gas plants and hydropower plants. With such a wide range of disruptions, there is a meticulous process that can make things start again, called the “black starting point.” Grid operators plan for this that they hope they will never use.
In the event of an interruption, the vast majority of power sources are generated by solar energy. Sanchez called on the Spaniards to protect their power and avoid unnecessary usage.
“Telecom is now at a critical moment,” Sanchez said in his speech to the country. “We will go through critical times until we fully restore power so that we need to make short calls.”
– With the assistance of Rachel Morison, Thomas Gualtieri, Laura Millan, Clara Hernanz Lizarraga, Ryan Gallagher and William Mathis.
(The first time range is added, the state grid operator’s grid status is updated in the second, and the state of emergency in the fifth section of the five regions)
More stories like this are available Bloomberg.com
