Portugal and Spain blackout reveals grid vulnerabilities
The power supply disruption in Portugal was attributed to an issue within the Spanish power grid, the Portuguese transmission operator, REN, announced on Monday. They explained that the blackout was caused by a rare phenomenon: extreme temperature changes.
REN stated that sudden temperature fluctuations in central Spain resulted in voltage variations on high-voltage transmission lines.
The operator added that these voltage disturbances led to synchronisation problems between the Spanish and Portuguese power networks, which in turn caused difficulties with connections to other European countries.
The company estimates that achieving full stability of the energy system could take up to a week.
A major power outage occurred on Monday around 12:30 GMT, affecting mainland Spain and parts of Portugal. In Madrid and Lisbon, traffic lights and the metro ceased functioning, and passenger rail services were suspended. Problems also arose at airports, and in Portugal, power supply interruptions disrupted the operations of some hospitals.
The Prime Minister of Portugal, Luis Montenegro, assured the public that he expects the power supply to be restored in the coming hours. In parts of Spain, the power network has already been partially re-established.
The Reuters agency reported that the Spanish oil company Moeve had to halt operations at its refineries due to the power outage.
The network operator in Spain commenced the restoration of power supplies after 2 p.m., prioritising the southern and northern parts of the country. Power outages also affected France.
