The Kingdom has closed down: what is happening in Spain after the blackout

On Monday, April 28, a massive power outage occurred in Spain, affecting other European countries as well. It led to huge traffic jams, shutdowns of shops, cafes and many other infrastructure facilities. A state of emergency has been declared in the country. Details and reasons of the incident, as well as how countries are recovering after the blackout, are in the Izvestia article.

Blackout in Spain, Portugal and France: what is known

On Monday, April 28, a large-scale power outage occurred simultaneously in several European countries, due to which telephone networks failed, the subway stopped, ATMs and most of the urban infrastructure did not work. Due to the failure of traffic lights, huge traffic jams formed, flights were postponed at airports, and people were evacuated from the subway. Shoppers were emptying supermarket shelves in a panic.

Spain and Portugal suffered the most from the blackout, but its effects were also observed in Andorra, parts of France and Belgium.

The disruptions began at about 12:33 (13:33 Moscow time). In Spain, at that time, the volume of electricity consumption dropped sharply from 27 thousand to 12 thousand. MW (or 27 and 12 GW, respectively). This was stated by the Chairman of the Government of the country Pedro Sanchez. "As for the causes of the [massive power outage] that technicians are reporting to us, at 12:33 p.m. local time this morning, 15 GW [energy] production suddenly dropped in just 5 seconds...> This has never happened before," Sanchez clarified.

Later, due to the current situation in Spain, the Ministry of the Interior issued an emergency statement acknowledging the seriousness of the situation. A state of emergency was also declared.

"The Ministry of the Interior has declared a state of emergency in Spain following a power outage across the country," the publication said.

Barcelona store Owners lost thousands of Euros amid Blackout

Electricity restoration in Europe on April 28, reasons

After the incident, the state-owned Spanish company Red Electrica announced the implementation of an emergency recovery plan, as well as joining forces with other energy companies.

At the moment, it is known that the operation of all electrical substations in Spain has been fully restored, and electricity supply has been resumed for 99.95% of the total volume.

According to Premier Sanchez, after a busy night, it was possible to meet the necessary energy demand by 99.95%, [operation of] 100% of substations <...> restored.

He also announced that a meeting of the Spanish Security Council will be held in the near future, during which the authorities will determine further steps to resume the work of the entire Spanish electrical system.

In Portugal, according to the latest data, the electricity supply has been restored to 80% of the country's population. The problem that led to the malfunction, according to Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, "probably occurred in Spain."

According to French media reports, electricity supply in the affected areas has also been fully restored.

A cyberattack was mentioned among the possible causes of the blackout, but there was no confirmation of this information. Pedro Sanchez said that investigators will analyze all possible factors that led to the outages, and urged the public not to speculate on this topic.

According to the Portuguese operator REN, the reason for large-scale outages could be sudden temperature changes in Spain and, as a result, "induced atmospheric vibrations." According to REN estimates, it will take about a week to fully restore power supply to the Iberian Peninsula. There is no official statement from the Spanish operator yet.

Another possible factor in the power outage could be the country's dependence on renewable energy sources. Their use can reportedly make the power grid less stable. At the same time, the power grid warned of possible disruptions that could last several days. Extreme temperature fluctuations in Spain were blamed for these disruptions.

As of December 31, 2024, about 149 thousand tons were produced in Spain during the year. GWh of renewable energy, which is 10.3% more than in 2023 and accounted for 56.8% of the total.

In addition, it was reported that on April 16, the Spanish energy system completely switched to renewable energy sources for the first time.

The 2018 EU Directive on renewable energy sources stipulates that, first of all, electricity produced by solar and wind power plants must be purchased on all exchanges, explained Boris Martsinkevich, editor-in-chief of the analytical online magazine Geoenergetics info.

As a result, one of the causes of blackouts in Europe is problems balancing surges and shortages in electricity production.

According to calculations by Russian experts, the safety limit for "green" energy today is 12.5% of the total output, after which problems arise, recalled Marcinkevich.

Consequences of total loss of electricity in Spain

The blackout, as is already known, caused great damage to the kingdom's economy. Losses can reach €1 billion. This assessment was given by the newspaper El Pais, citing data from analysts. They noted that it is too early to talk about the real amounts, but with a power outage for a whole day, the amount of damage could reach €4.5 billion.

In particular, Manuel Hidalgo, professor of economics at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, noted that when calculating, it is important to understand that the power outage did not affect the entire country evenly.

"There are activities that stop, but there are also those that can be resumed later...> Many will stop work, but others will continue because they have generators," he said.