A power surge that caused a widespread blackout in Spain and Portugal was the most severe in Europe in the last 20 years, and the first of its kind, a report has found.
Damian Cortinas, president of the association of electricity grid operators Entso-e, stated that the incident was the first known blackout caused by overvoltage, which occurs when there is too much electrical voltage in a network.
April's outage led to a significant disruption lasting nearly a day, plunging cities into darkness, disrupting internet and telephone connections, and halting transport links.
The blackout affected large parts of Spain and Portugal, briefly reaching southwestern France. A report focusing on the day of the outage determined that a sequence of cascading overvoltages initiated the failure.
This phenomenon can stem from network surges due to oversupply or inadequate protective equipment. Automatic defense measures were triggered but were insufficient to prevent the failure.
Ongoing investigations by the Spanish government and energy watchdogs have indicated that both state-run and private grid operators may share responsibility. The Spanish government believes the findings align with its own assessments, which cited failures on the part of the electrical grid providers.
The outage has spurred debate about Spain's energy model, particularly in relation to its reliance on renewable energy and the declining role of nuclear energy for stability.
Madrid Open Tennis organizers were forced to stop matches mid-play due to power loss, with hospitals having to implement emergency protocols as routine procedures were suspended. Payments systems failed, forcing people to turn to cash, and emergency services responded to numerous calls about individuals trapped in elevators.
The Entso-e report is part of a comprehensive investigation into the causes of the unprecedented blackout with a final report expected early next year.
