The Spanish government has blamed grid operators and private power companies nationwide on energy blackouts that caused widespread disruptions in Spain and Portugal earlier this year.
On the afternoon of April 28, both countries were disconnected from the European power grid for several hours. Businesses, schools, universities, government buildings and transport hubs were all left without power, and traffic light halts caused burglars.
School children, students and workers were sent home that day, while many others were either stuck in elevators or stuck on trains in isolated rural areas.
Shortly after, the Left Union government did not provide an explanation and instead called for patience to investigate.
Almost two months after the unprecedented suspension, Ecological Transition Minister Sara Aagesen presented a report on its cause.
She said Red Electrica, a partially state-owned grid operator, miscalculated its power capacity needs for the day, explaining that “the system does not have enough dynamic voltage capacity.”
The regulator needs to turn on another thermal plant, she said, but “they did the calculations and decided that it wasn’t necessary.”
Aagesen also accused him of not adjusting the voltage on the grid just before the blackout occurred.
“The generational company was to control the voltage and was paid for not absorbing all the voltage expected when tensions were high,” she said without ordering the person in charge.
The day after the suspension, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez proposed that private utility companies may have played a role, and said his government would demand “all relevant accountability.”
However, the new report on the blackout also raises questions about the role of Beatrice Coredor, president of Red Ereclika and former socialist minister who previously argued that the grid regulators were not negligent.
Aagesen said there was no evidence that the cyber attack caused the blackout.
The government’s delay in presenting an explanation for the blackout attracted widespread criticism and led to intense scrutiny of the country’s energy model, suggesting that opposition may have been involved in reliability and reliance on nuclear energy rejection.
Alberto Nuñez Fejo, leader of the major opposition People’s Party (PP), said the Prime Minister “leaded the Spaniards into the darkness because you intend to be the most environmentally friendly in the world.”
However, the government has repeatedly argued that Spain’s renewable energy production was not the cause of the halt.
