One day after Spain and Portugal were hit by extensive blackouts, electricity returned to most areas of both countries on Tuesday (29), leaving many relieved but also with harsh criticisms about the exact cause of the failure.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that his country had recovered more than 95% of total supply by 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. In Portugal, a spokesperson for REN, the electricity and gas supplier, said that electrical power had been restored to all substations in the country’s electrical grid and that everything was “100% operational”.
But the cause of the blackout, which left tens of millions of people isolated on the Iberian Peninsula, remains unknown.
Eduardo Prieto, director of services at Red Eléctrica, Spain’s national energy company, said there are no “definitive conclusions” about the reasons for the interruption.
He joined a chorus of authorities who stated there had been no cyberattack. But he also ruled out human error and meteorological causes.
The Spanish electrical system was shut down after being hit by two distinct power interruptions, one and a half seconds apart, he said.
“That may seem like a small amount”, he said, “but in the world of electricity, it is a significant amount”.
A judge from the Spanish National Court ordered that reports be presented to him within 10 days — including one from the police and another from the national intelligence department responsible for cyberattacks.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said that a seven-member independent technical committee would assess the crisis management, including government communications, and the resilience of the country’s electrical system and infrastructure.
Spain and Portugal ground to a halt on Monday afternoon (28). Traffic lights went out, trains and subways stopped, elevators stopped — many with people trapped inside.
Businesses, factories, and schools closed, and airports delayed and canceled flights.
There were also problems with internet connections and telephone networks, leaving many disoriented and without access to information.
Source: The New York Times