Obsolete grid triggered blackout in Portugal and Spain
13 hours ago
- #Iberian Peninsula
- #power blackout
- #energy security
- A power blackout in April left 60 million people in the Iberian Peninsula without power.
- The cause was cascading overvoltage, affecting vital services in Spain and Portugal.
- The incident disrupted metro networks, traffic lights, air traffic, mobile services, and emergency systems.
- Financial services and essential sectors like emergency services were impacted.
- Experts called it Europe's 'most significant power system event' in over two decades.
- The root cause was the grid's inability to automatically absorb sudden power losses.
- Experts recommended improving voltage control and automatic system rebooting.
- The European Commission is reviewing the EU’s energy security framework.
- The incident highlighted the need for modernizing the existing grid.
- Legislation to rejuvenate the bloc’s power network is due on 25 November.