Spain traces April power outage to voltage surge and grid failures
The country’s grid operator was unable to sufficiently control voltage before the blackout
The power outage in Spain in April was caused by grid failures and not a cyberattack, the Spanish government has confirmed.
Publishing a report into the cause of the power loss, which left millions of people without electricity in Spain and parts of Portugal for more than 12 hours, the government said a voltage surge caused small grid failures in southern Spain, which triggered a chain reaction and caused larger grid failures across the Iberian peninsula.
Ecological transition minister Sara Aagesen told reporters that most of the power loss on 28 April occurred very quickly, in just five seconds. She blamed poor planning by Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE), owned by Redeia, which meant it was unable to sufficiently control voltage capacity. She said REE calculations meant it did not have sufficient thermal power stations switched on at the time of the voltage surge while some utilities unnecessarily shut down power plants and generators as a preventative measure.
Aagesen announced a series of measures, including proposals to ensure better voltage controls, to strengthen the stability of Spain’s power grid to prevent further outages, including as a result of cyberattacks.
She said while there is no evidence of a cyberattack behind the April outage, the investigation has identified vulnerabilities that could expose networks and systems to potential future risks.
Redeia agreed that a voltage surge was the cause of the power loss, but it contested the government’s finding that REE had failed to properly calculate the energy mix and plan voltage control capabilities. It said conventional power plants had failed to help control voltage.
Chief executive of Redeia Roberto Garcia Merino said REE acted accordingly and within regulations and he does not expect any claims as a result of the incident, which brought transport to a standstill and forced businesses to close as power was slowly restored throughout the early hours of the next morning.
Analysts said most business interruption policies only start paying out for losses after at least 12 hours of power loss, with some only after 24 or 48 hours of power loss. Morningstar DBRS pegged insured losses from the event at between €100m and €300m for Spain across commercial insurance lines, business interruption, home and travel policies. But it said insurer’s payouts are likely to be largely mitigated by the restoration of the power supply for most parts of Spain within 12 hours.
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