Cause of power outage remains unclear
MADRID — Spain and Portugal were returning to some semblance of normality early Tuesday, with many questions remaining about what caused one of Europe’s worst blackouts in years across the Iberian peninsula the previous day.
Spain's electricity grid operator Red Electrica said it was able to supply virtually all of the country's electricity demand early on Tuesday as the system gradually recovers from a nationwide blackout on Monday, although most trains were still not running.
All of Spain's substations were operating on Tuesday morning, Red Electrica said in a post on X social media, formerly called Twitter. "We keep on working from centre of electric control to secure total normalisation of the system," it added.
The Madrid underground metro network said it had resumed operating at 8am (0600 GMT) with 80% of trains circulating, but railway infrastructure operator Adif said most trains nationwide were not operating.
A huge power outage hit most of the Iberian Peninsula on Monday morning, bringing both Spain and Portugal to a standstill - grounding planes, halting public transport and forcing hospitals to restrict routine proceedings.
Power supply was gradually restored in both countries from late Monday afternoon and early evening though some operations were still not able to resume on Tuesday morning.
The cause of Monday's power outage was unclear.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that the country had suffered a loss of 15 gigawatts of electricity generation in five seconds, equivalent to 60% of national demand.
The loss triggered a disconnection of the Spanish and French grids, prompting a general collapse of the Spanish system, Red Electrica's chief of operations Eduardo Prieto told reporters on Monday evening. Some areas in France suffered brief outages on Monday.
Commuters wait for a bus during a power outage in Lisbon, Portugal, on Monday. (Photo: Bloomberg)
Portugal's grid officials suggested the issue originated in Spain.
Spain is one of Europe's biggest users of renewable energy sources, but Monday's shutdown has already sparked debate about whether the volatility of supply from solar or wind has made its power systems more vulnerable to such an outage.
The reasons for the loss of power are unknown, Sanchez said, adding no hypotheses are ruled out, he added.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said there was "no indication" a cyberattack was behind the outage.
Spain's Sanchez spoke to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday, Nato sources said in Brussels.
Spain, which has been a leader in the rollout of solar and wind, may face questions over its decision to decommission nuclear plants, which currently contribute 20% of its power mix.
The country is also set to close its last coal-fuelled thermoelectric unit this year in favour of renewable energy, backed up by gas plants.
Ana Andrade, an economist for Bloomberg Economics, said the power failure could inflict an immediate hit on Spain of about 0.5% of quarterly gross domestic product (GDP), though some of that would likely be made up in coming days and weeks as energy supply is restored.
"The big picture for Spain remains one of economic outperformance, with strong underlying growth momentum and limited direct exposure to US demand as the trade war continues," Andrade wrote in a note.
Monday’s outage is reminiscent of a massive power blackout that swept several European countries in July 2021, leaving millions without electricity for hours. Authorities cited a combination of factors then as possible causes, including extreme weather conditions and technical failures.
Railways were among the most affected Monday in Spain, with state security personnel deployed to assist some 35,000 passengers trapped in more than 100 trains, Sanchez said.
General view of Barcelona during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain on Monday. (Photo: Reuters)
