There is a rare large power outage in southern Europe! Spain is in chaos, and the power grid achieved

Source: Wall Street Insights

On Monday, southern Europe suffered a severe large-scale power outage. The Spanish government declared a state of emergency. Traffic came to a standstill, communication was interrupted, and tens of thousands of people were trapped. As night fell, the entire country was plunged into darkness.

At around 12:35 pm local time on Monday, a sudden large-scale power outage hit most parts of Spain and Portugal. This power outage affected the entire Iberian Peninsula and even some areas of France. According to the report of the Spanish power grid operator Red Eléctrica, approximately 15 gigawatts of generating capacity suddenly disappeared within just 5 seconds, which was equivalent to 60% of the country's electricity demand at that time.

(Photo source: Reuters)

After the power grid was paralyzed for more than 11 hours, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced at 11 pm local time that electricity had only been restored in half of the country, and a state of emergency was declared.

Red Eléctrica stated that as of 10:30 pm local time, the power grid only met nearly half of the demand, partially relying on the electricity supply from France. About two-thirds of the substations resumed operation, and the power company promised to "gradually increase" the power supply until it returned to normal levels.

The Portuguese power grid operator REN warned that it could take up to a week for the entire system to be fully restored.

Such large-scale power outages are not common in Europe. In 2003, a hydropower station line between Italy and Switzerland malfunctioned, causing a power outage across the entire Italian peninsula for about 12 hours. In 2006, the German power grid was overloaded, leading to power outages in some parts of Europe and even as far as Morocco.

Regarding the cause of the power outage, there is still no official conclusion, and various parties have different opinions. It is worth mentioning that this catastrophic power outage occurred just 6 days after Spain had just celebrated its national power grid "operating with 100% renewable energy for the first time on a working day", raising questions about the stability and feasibility of the energy transition.

Some analysts pointed out that currently, 43% of Spain's electricity comes from wind and solar energy, but the construction speed of the power grid and energy storage systems has not kept up with the rapid development of renewable energy.

National Paralysis: Traffic Stagnation, Impact on Hospitals, and Public Panic

This sudden power outage completely disrupted the normal life in Spain and Portugal.

According to a report in the Financial Times of the UK, traffic lights failed, subway stations were evacuated, and shops, restaurants, and offices were closed.

(Photo source: Reuters)

The Spanish traffic management department called on the public not to drive because the traffic lights had completely failed. The medium- and long-distance railways across the country were suspended, and more than 35,000 passengers were trapped on more than 100 stationary trains, with some passengers trapped for more than 11 hours.

(Photo source: Getty Images)

Hundreds of flights at Madrid and Lisbon airports were delayed and cancelled. The Spanish airport management company Aena said that they were operating on backup power, and the extent of the flight delays depended on whether the crew and passengers could reach the airport.

The medical system was also severely affected. Local media reported that some hospitals barely maintained normal operations relying on backup generators, but many hospitals were forced to suspend routine surgeries.

In Madrid, Spain, spectators wandered around the venue of the Madrid Open tennis tournament during the power outage.

(Photo source: The Paper)

A tourist trapped in Spain said on social media: "Believe me, the problem is not just the darkness... You can't pay without cash (so there's no food or transportation), the internet is very limited, and there's no knowing if the problem can really be solved."

(Photo source: Zerohedge)

Cloudflare, a company specializing in network performance and security services, reported that due to the power outage, internet connectivity "dropped by 30% in Portugal and 37% in Spain".

Diverse Opinions on the Cause of the Power Outage: The Price of Radical Energy Transition?

Regarding the cause of this rare large-scale power outage, various parties have different statements.

The Portuguese power grid operator REN claimed that it was caused by a "rare atmospheric phenomenon", specifically referring to "extreme temperature changes" within the Spanish power grid. According to a report by the British media LBC News, REN said that these temperature changes led to "abnormal oscillations in the extra-high voltage lines (400 kV), a phenomenon known as 'atmospherically induced vibrations'". These oscillations caused the synchronization between power systems to fail, triggering a series of continuous disruptions in the entire interconnected European network.

Meteorological data shows that the temperature in southern Spain rose sharply between 12 pm and 1 pm local time. High temperatures may have limited the transmission capacity of the cables.

Eduardo Prieto, the director of Spanish power grid services, said that the network experienced "very strong oscillations" during that period, disconnecting the Spanish power grid from the rest of the European continent and causing the system to collapse.

However, Stephen Jarvis, an assistant professor of environmental economics at the London School of Economics, said that the weather on that day was not abnormal, and a system failure was more likely to be the cause due to an imbalance between supply and demand.

It is worth noting that this large-scale power outage occurred just 6 days after Spain celebrated the milestone of "100% renewable energy power supply". According to media reports, in the week before the power outage, the Spanish national power grid operated completely relying on renewable energy for the first time on a working day.

Analyst Michael Shellenberger wrote on the PUBLIC website that this power outage was not accidental. As countries replace heavy rotating equipment with lightweight, inverter-based power generation equipment, the power grid has become faster, lighter, and more vulnerable to interference. This basic physical reality was already clarified in a public warning in 2017.

Spain has long been known as an "energy island" due to its weak connection with neighboring countries such as France. Currently, 43% of the country's electricity comes from wind and solar energy, but the construction speed of the power grid and energy storage systems has not kept up with the rapid development of renewable energy. Phil Hewitt of the energy data agency Montel pointed out that Spain's high proportion of renewable energy and limited connections with neighboring countries may have exacerbated the consequences of this power grid shock.

Energy expert Mark Nelson used a vivid metaphor to explain the problem of "inertia": When the power grid is in a low-inertia state, small or medium-sized disturbances become very difficult to manage and may cascade into more widespread instability and power outages, just like what happened before the large-scale power outage in Spain on Monday.

This power outage has raised questions about the speed of the renewable energy transition and the stability of the power grid.

Shellenberger warned: "The power outage in Spain is not only a technical failure but also a political and strategic failure. Unless Spain quickly invests in synthetic inertia, maintains and expands its nuclear power workforce, or increases other forms of heavy rotating power generation, the risk of future power outages will only become more and more severe."

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