Paul Kirby
European Digital Editor
Watch: In Madrid, confusion continues when power resumes
As life in Spain and Portugal returns to normal, the big question is not just what went wrong, but how to prevent such a full-scale blackout from happening again.
That’s when Spanish electric grids declared it was back to normal until 11:15am (09:15 GMT) on Tuesday, almost 23 hours after the system collapsed.
The train has started running again, but some lines are suspended, and most homes have regained their strength.
So how did it get up and run, and why did it take so long?
Spain was in the Mixed Chaos for most of Monday.
This issue appears to be related to two separate connection problems in the southwest within each other moments, and then to a nearly 1 hour disconnect from the French network.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez highlighted the sudden loss of 15 gigawatts of electricity at 12:33 on Monday, when around 60% of Spain’s electricity generation suddenly disappeared.
Eduardo Prieto, operations director for Gridred Ereclica, said the system was stable until the loss of electricity generation in southwestern Spain.
Only the Canary Islands, Balearic, Ceuta and Merira on the North African coast were not affected.
More and more public figures are condemning solar saturation and excessive reliance on renewable energy.
Minutes before the shutdown, Spain was running on 60.64% of solar power generation.
Reuters
By Tuesday, the Madrid Metro was running with a backup
The diversified, sophisticated Spanish energy mix required a great deal of effort to revive and run Spain, the nationwide collapse of power at 12:35 on Monday.
The first focus was that grid operator Red Eléctrica was key to “gradually re-activating the transmission grid when the generation units are connected.”
The risk was overloading the system by turning everything on at the same time and triggering another massive outage.
So everything had to be carefully and step-by-step in order for what experts call a “black start” to succeed.
The initial focus was hydroelectric plants, especially pumped storage plants filled with reservoirs during this period, allowing electricity to be produced quickly from the standing start.
Gas plants in total cycles also played an important role in repeating the grid, but the four nuclear power plants, Almaraz, Ascó and Vandellós, were automatically shut down with shutdowns, while the other three were already offline anyway.
EPA
The electricity gradually returned to all parts of Spain overnight
Spanish neighbours France and Morocco also received assistance.
Morocco said 900mW of electricity was transferred via two high-voltage lines across the Gibraltler Strait from Faldiaua in southern Spain to Tarifa.
French operator RTE said “more electricity is gradually being transferred to the Spanish border” via the power lines that supply Catalonia, Basque countries in northeastern Spain and northwest.
RTE said the Iberian network was disconnected from 12:38 to 13:30 on Monday, when the 400kV line to Catalonia was recovered. Within minutes, France supplies 700MW, and RTE said it can increase by up to 2,000MW.
The electricity eventually recovered to Spanish power engines north, south and west of the peninsula.
By 7:20pm on Monday, the grid operator said more than five-fifths of Spain’s own generation and France had recovered.
Power provider Endesa said it had recovered around 3.5 million customers by 19:15 and prioritized hospitals and other strategic infrastructure.
Just an hour later, the longest of Red Electrica boss Eduardo Prieto said that demand of about 9,200 mW (about 35.1%) had recovered.
That figure had steadily risen to 61.35% by midnight Monday and more than 99% by 7:00 Tuesday.
Spain is now beginning to count costs. The CEOE boss organization estimates a hit of 1.6 billion euros in the economy.
And the political responsibility game has already begun.
Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a conservative head of the Madrid community, said the government’s response was slow and ineffective, but her people’s party leader, Alberto Nuñez Feiho, appealed to the “deplorable” image of Spain being sent all over the world.
Despite all the problems, the Spaniards were praised by the government for confronting opportunities and showing solidarity.
The hospital had a backup diesel-operated generator, allowing us to continue with critical care.
Spanish Guardia Civic Police said they rescued 13,000 passengers trapped in the train.
Residents of the south town of Villan Eva de Cordoba came with the help of passengers stuck on Huigo trains.
Local police in Barcelona went back to the old ways and regulated traffic in Plaza Espania due to the lights going out.
Barceloname Metro passengers had to walk safely using cell phone torches when the train was stuck in the tunnel.
The Girona conference centre has been converted into a 180-bed shelter for those left behind in the railroad chaos.
Flights across the country were affected, but airport operator Ana continued to move through the mess with the help of a generator.
The batteries of the phone ran down, the TV was in a flash, and for many Spaniards the only lifeline to the outside world was from car or battery operated radios, just as radio stations became soldiers through blackouts.
In Madrid, ahead of the major public holiday weekend, there was an urgent call for blood donation.
Pedro Sanchez is determined to have a lesson learned and that such a crisis will never happen again.
But energy expert Carlos Kagigal told Spanish television that there is a risk as he is not in a position to deal with all the renewable energy in which Spanish infrastructure is produced.
The Power Grid Operator warned earlier this year about the risks of excessive renewable energy while closing nuclear power plants.
However, the clip of President Beatrice Coredor has gone viral since 2021. She argued that Spain had “one of the safest and most advanced electrical systems in the world, and there was no reason to worry.
