🔗 Share this article

A major power surge that resulted in a extensive blackout across Spanish territory and Portugal has been classified as the "most critical" electrical incident in European nations during the last 20 years, and represents a pioneering situation of its kind, according to a newly released report.

The president of the organization of power network managers announced that this notable incident marked the pioneering recorded blackout to be directly caused by voltage surge, which happens when excessive power voltage builds up within a grid.

"This is unprecedented ground," the official remarked, adding that the association's role was "not to apportion blame to any organization" regarding the underlying cause.

The April's blackout caused significant disruption for nearly a day when it plunged multiple areas into darkness, cutting network services and stopping travel networks.

Broad Consequences

The blackout affected extensive regions of Spain and Portuguese nation, and briefly affected southwestern France.

The study, published on Friday, focused on the condition of the electrical networks on the day of the outage and the progression of incidents culminating in it.

Technical Breakdowns

A cascade of "progressive voltage surges" - defined as an elevation in the power system voltage exceeding the established norm - was identified as the main reason behind the blackout, the report determined.

Voltage surge can be triggered by spikes in grids due to oversupply or weather events, or when safety systems are insufficient.

Per the investigation, automated protection systems were activated but were unable to stop the energy grid from collapsing.

Various Investigations

The report follows various distinct inquiries and studies by the Spain's administration, as well as power and grid companies. The regulatory body and Spanish lawmakers are also carrying out separate investigations.

The national authorities maintains that the organization's conclusions corroborates its earlier determinations.

Sara Aagesen for environmental policy stated that it was "fully aligned" with the findings of an examination it authorized which wrapped up in June that each of the primary network operator and private electricity companies were culpable.

Conflicting Perspectives

Both the main network manager and the commercial companies have insisted that they were not to blame. The controlling entity has assigned responsibility for the blackout on specific coal, gas and nuclear power plants' inability to help sustain appropriate voltage.

National energy companies said it was caused by inadequate preparation from system controllers.

Analysis Difficulties

The report also noted that certain crucial information was missing and that "gathering thorough, reliable details proved extremely difficult for this investigation".

A definitive analysis, to be released in the beginning period of the coming year, will examine the root causes of the voltage surge and the procedures employed to manage electrical levels in the system.

Administrative Discussion

The blackout initiated a broader debate that entered the administrative domain about Spain's energy model.

The political rivals proposed that an increasingly heavy reliance on renewable energy, advocated by the left-wing government of the prime minister, could have been a relevant element in generating the outage and the territory's diminishing production of atomic power meant a dependable back-up was inaccessible.

The government roundly rejected these hypotheses and the recent study was cautious to avoid taking sides when it came to the causes of the spring's unique outage.

Instant Effects

The loss of power compelled professional tennis tournament organizers to halt a game midway during the contest.

The country's nuclear stations automatically stopped when the outage struck, and the Spanish oil company reported it stopped production at its petroleum facilities.

Civil Disruption

Structures were plunged into darkness, while cellular devices and road signals stopped working. Queues extended along city blocks and electronic transactions failed, obliging people to wait for currency and pack onto buses as other transport systems were non-functional.

First responders were called to numerous structures to extricate people trapped inside elevators in the Madrid region and medical facilities initiated crisis protocols, suspending standard operations.