Spain discloses new power grid failure on the day of April blackout

Spain’s high-voltage electricity grid suffered more power generation disruptions than previously known ahead of the country’s largest ever blackout, the government said. 

“There is new information: there was a third loss of power generation” that occurred 19 seconds before the blackout and adds to two that were previously known, Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen, the country’s top energy policymaker, said on Monday in an interview with broadcaster TVE.

“We are seeking to identify the plants” where the generation collapsed and why this happened.

Power loss

Until now, the government had said that the blackout on April 28 coincided with the loss of power generation in a plant in southwest Spain followed by a second loss of generation 1.5 seconds later in the same region.

The blackout was the largest ever recorded in Spain and affected more than 50 million people in the country and Portugal.

Public transport, traffic and phone and internet communications collapsed and shops and restaurants had to shut down on the day. 

The government and Red Electrica, the company that manages the transmission grid, have said that determining the cause requires sifting through large amounts of data and could take months. The government has 20% of publicly-traded Redeia Corporacion SA, the holding company that owns Red Electrica.

Redeia’s chair is a political appointee. 

Collaboration

The government has requested that the country’s main electricity generators collaborate with the investigation into the blackout by contributing information. The generators send power to Red Electrica’s network.

At the time of the blackout, which happened around 12:33 p.m., Spain was using a large amount of solar and wind energy, which critics say make grids more vulnerable to incidents. The government has said that it’s wrong to blame clean energy for the blackout.