The rapid restoration of power supply in Spain in less than 24 hours shows the resistance of the national energy system, but the failure also exposes its weaknesses, such as the lack of international energy connections – told PAP Ignacio Urbasos, an analyst of the Spanish royal Elcano Institute.
“Although there was a so -called technical zero, i.e. the complete collapse of the system, its restoration in less than 24 hours was a feat that shows the resistance of the Spanish energy system” – noted Urbasos.
He emphasized that everything indicates a technical failure in electrical network management. He noted, however, that it is too early to issue opinions and wait for the official announcement of the national Red Electrica operator.
The operator announced on Tuesday morning that until 7 Almost 100 percent were restored. power supply in Spain after a large failure, which occurred around 12.30 on Monday. According to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the energy network lost 15 gigawatts, which corresponds to 60 percent. national demand, in just five seconds.
The reasons for the situation are still being examined.
Urbasos emphasized that a large failure in the whole country, which occurred on Monday afternoon, was also revealed by the weakness of the Spanish system, namely the lack of international electricity connections, enabling the appropriate way of responding to similar situations.
“Connections with Morocco and France were crucial in the process of restoring the system's operation, but they turned out to be insufficient to prevent its fall,” noted the expert. The Royal Elcano Institute analyst also pointed out that the Spanish electricity system is quickly heading towards decarbonization, achieving record levels of renewable energy sources (renewable energy). “Thus, we enter the unknown territory, which in turn causes problems in network management” – added the analyst.
He emphasized, however, that electricity breaks are not the sole domain of systems with a high share of renewable energy sources. “Italy experienced a similar situation in 2003, before the expansion of solar and wind energy; moreover, it took several days to remove it at the time,” Urbasos reminded.
Prime Minister Sanchez ruled out a scenario on Tuesday, according to which an excessive supply of renewable energy caused a power failure.
He also drew attention to the issue of renewable energy sources in the context of Blackout in a commentary for PAP prof. Diego Rodriguez from the University of Computerse in Madrid.
“The failure in Spain has shown that we underestimate the security of deliveries enough until it disappoints. In this sense, it proves that the development of renewable energy, especially solar energy, must be closely related to systems such as energy storage, which allow a very quick response to unforeseen events” – noted the scientist.
Marcin Furdyna from Madrid
