Spain-Portugal blackouts latest: Head of Spain’s power grid refuses to resign as officials hunt for cause
Power has been restored to tens of millions but the cause of the power cut remains unknown
Spanish grid operator Red Electrica’s boss has said she is not considering resigning as the energy firm faces mounting pressure while officials hunt for the cause of the major power outage that hit Spain and Portugal on Monday.
Chairwoman Beatriz Corredor said it was incorrect to link the massive blackout that hit the countries to the high share of renewable energy in the country’s total generation.
“I am not contemplating resignation”, she told radio station Cadena SER.
The firm posted on social media in praise of their response to the blackout that hit Europe at 12.30pm earlier this week, which brought transport to a standstill, wiped out mobile network and Wi-Fi coverage and water access for some.
“In less than 24 hours, they have turned around an unprecedented situation thanks to their dedication and professionalism.We continue working with the same vocation of service.”
This comes as Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez met with grid operators asking for their co-operation in finding the cause, he said: “We must undertake the necessary improvements to guarantee the supply and future competitiveness of our system.”
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Vice-president affirms electrical system operating as normal
Spain’s third vice-president, minister for ecological transition and demographic challenge Sara Aaegesen, has said the electrical system is working under normal and stable conditions following the outage.
"The electrical system has been operating under normal and stable conditions since yesterday. It is important to highlight the great work of the operators and technical staff who have worked to ensure a replacement as quickly as possible.
As theories continue about how the power cut started, she added: “We have an obligation to always ensure that our reporting is rigorous and comprehensive. We will not pass on theories or speculation.”
'Fundamental problem is grid's instability', says energy expert
Antonio Turiel, an energy expert at the state-owned Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), told Onda Vasca radio station on Tuesday that the fundamental problem was the grid's instability.
“A lot of renewable energy has been integrated without the responsive stabilisation systems that should have been in place,” he said, adding that vulnerabilities stemmed from “the unplanned and haphazard integration of a host of renewable systems”.
Red Electrica double down on success of overcoming blackout amid mounting pressure
Red Electrica president Beatriz Corredor has expressed her gratitude to the teams at the grid operator who worked “day and night” to overcome the blackout.
The company affirmed they were able to do it in “record time. Without a single mistake. Without rest.”
“In less than 24 hours, they have turned around an unprecedented situation thanks to their dedication and professionalism.We continue working with the same vocation of service.”
This follows mounting pressure from Spain’s opposition as the cause of the blackout remains unknown.
Ms Corredor previously said it was wrong to blame the outage on Spain's high share of renewable energy.
"These technologies are already stable and they have systems that allow them to operate as a conventional generation system without any safety issues," she said. She was not considering resigning, she added.
Government sets deadline for energy companies to offer data to explain cause of blackout
Red Electrica boss Beatriz Corredor said that the Spanish government has given power companies a deadline of Wednesday afternoon to offer data to help explain what’s going on.
In pictures: Madrid Open recommences following blackout
WATCH: Sanchez says Spain will not allow blackout again and vows accountability for private companies
EXCLUSIVE: An estimated 80,000 passengers had their flights cancelled because of the power outage
After the power outage around noon on Monday 28 April hobbled airports, airlines and air-traffic control systems in Spain and Portugal, the final flight cancellation count has just been announced by aviation analysts Cirium.
Passengers travelling to, from and within Spain encountered 413 cancellations, while the score for Portugal is 372.
But because many of those are links between the two countries, and are therefore “double counted”, The Independent believes the true total is around 500 – affecting an estimated 80,000 passengers.
Simon Calder, Travel Correspondent, reports:
Tens of thousands stranded by flight cancellations after Spain-Portugal power outage
Mapped: The moment power dropped off in Spain and Portugal's power outage
What we know about the Spain-Portugal power outage
On Monday at 12.30pm, large areas of Spain, Portugal and even parts of France experienced a major power outage.
Transport was brought to a standstill as traffic lights, metro services and gas stations were unable to work.
Mobile networks and Wi-Fi were halted by the blackout which left people unable to contact each other or even access basic sources of information.
People couldn’t even use water supplies in some areas where water pumps were electrically activated.
It is estimated that tens of millions of people were hit by the outage, with capital cities Lisbon and Madrid particularly affected.
By 10.30pm on Monday evening, both countries were able to restore power supply almost fully.
Recap: What have we learnt on Wednesday?
It remains unclear just what caused the blackout that affected tens of millions of people in Portugal and Spain, but here are the latest updates on the incident:
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for answers over the cause of the blackout and co-operation from the private energy sector to understand waht happened.
- Grid operator Red Electrica Beatriz Corredor backtracked on claims that the blackout was linked to renewable energy in the country’s total generation.
- She added that the government had set a deadline of Wednesday afternoon to send on any data that might be helpful in understanding the cause of the blackout.
- She is not considering resigning, amid growing pressure.
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