Millions in Spain and Portugal stayed behind in the dark on Monday, because an unprecedented power outage brought to a halt of the Iberian peninsula.
For hours the lights went out, the links transported to a standstill and communication networks, so many people wondered what had gone wrong.
The statements were thin on the ground in the immediate aftermath. Conspiracy theories began to pop up, including international sabotage, a cyber attack or even renewable energy sources that were responsible for the malfunction.
Officials said that there was little precedent for this kind of widespread electric failure on the entire Iberian peninsula. “We have never had a complete collapse of the system,” said Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, who spoke about how the Power Grid lost 15 Gigawatt, the equivalent of 60 percent of his national requirement, in just five seconds.
Experts say that a good investigation will take time – and that the cause remains uncertain. The grid operator of Spain, Red Eléctrica de España (Ree), spoke about a “very strong oscillation in the electrical network” that led to the disconnection of the country of the wider European energy system.
In the meantime, the Operator of Portugal, REN (Redes Energéticas Nacionais), initially a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” in Spain, with extreme temperature variations, could have caused vibrations in high -voltage lines.
But many experts are skeptical about those claims.
“I am not familiar with this term,” said Dr. Jianzhong Wu, professor of multi-vector-energy systems at the University of Cardiff. “It is not used on a large scale or often found in Engineering Engineering of Power System.
“” Induced atmospheric vibrations “can cause unusual physical movements of electricity lines that are caused by fast and extreme changes in atmospheric conditions, such as temperature shifts or localized weather phenomena,” he explains.
“These vibrations can change the electrical properties of transmission lines or activation protection mechanisms that are designed to prevent damage, which leads to unexpected decoping. As an alternative, referring to unusual changes in the demand for electricity and generation caused by rapid atmospheric shifts.”
Dr. Wu says that there is not enough information available to make an assessment about the cause.
One of the most important aspects of this blackout is how it managed to influence such a large area. Both the electricity networks of Spain and Portugal are closely linked, not only with each other, but also on the wider European system. This mutual connection usually offers resilience, so that power can be shared across the borders.
Dr. However, Jianzhong Wu, professor of multi-vector-energy systems at the University of Cardiff, said that it can also mean that “malfunctions can spread quickly if there is a large synchronization failure.”
“In this case, the disruption seems to have quickly propagated by the Iberian Peninsula.”
Dr. David Brayshaw, een professor in de klimaatwetenschap en energiemeteorologie aan de Universiteit van Reading, legde uit: “Power Systems zijn netwerken, die lokale verstoringen verbinden met bredere gebieden … Als iets op het netwerk-een generator, een stroomlijn, of zelfs een grote elektriciteitsgebruiker-het creëren van een te grote, andere componen, kan een te grote, andere componen. Dat verergert de onbalans en kan Activate a big black -out – sometimes within a few “.
Because both Spain and Portugal are increasingly dependent on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, questions have been asked about their role in the malfunction. However, experts were quickly rejected as the primary cause.
Daniel Muir, a senior European Power Analyst at S&P Global, said Polito that “the nature and scale of the malfunction makes it unlikely that the volume of renewable energy sources was the cause.”
“There was sufficient conventional generation available, with nuclear, hydro, cogeneneration and thermal technologies all on the system prior to the event and … available for the operator,” he said.
Dr. Keith Bell, professor of electronic and electrical engineering at the University of Strathclyde, said: “Events of this scale have happened over the years in many places around the world, in energy systems, with fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro or variable renewable energy sources.
There has also been a lot of speculation asking whether the malfunctions were the work of Cyber-Saboteurs who launched a strike on Europe. However, there is no evidence that this was the case.
The European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera rejected that possibility and said that there was “nothing that enables us to say that there is some form of sabotage or cyber attack”.
Although this is a rare event, it is not unlikely. Experts warn that as the electricity of the world increases and the energy systems change, there must be more research into the vulnerabilities of these systems.
“System operators and owners of equipment try to ensure that such large events do not happen and to learn lessons when they do that, sharing those lessons internationally as soon as investigations are completed,” Dr. Bell.
#caused #Blackouts #Spain #Portugal