Why Spain's mega power outage may not be Europe's last
The blackout in the Iberian Peninsula on April 28 revealed to the world just how complicated power grid management is. This is even more so with the rise of renewable energy, whose intermittent production is a major source of instability, explains the Financial Times.
When the lights went out and her train stopped, Yosselyn Jara Sandoval was in a crowded carriage in a tunnel in the heart of Madrid. “We wanted to get out, but they told us not to,” she said. “It was completely dark, and people were starting to suffocate.” An hour and a half later, passengers were able to get off the train and feel their way through, using only flashlights.
“It felt like a horror movie.”
They weren't alone in this predicament. At around 12:33 this Monday [April 28], nearly half of Spain's electricity production capacity was shut down, depriving all of Spain and Portugal [as well as parts of France and Morocco] of power.
Hospitals suspended routine operations, factories and refineries had to halt production, cell phones lost signal, and traffic lights went out. Police forces were deployed to maintain order. At 11 p.m., Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a state of emergency.
The causes of this blackout, the biggest that Europe has seen in twenty years, have still not been identified. The Spanish network operator Red
Courrier International
