Blackouts in Spain — What went wrong? - video Dailymotion

DW (English)

In April, Spain suffered massive power outages. Although just one day, they brought daily life to a halt. What happened?

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00:00Bustling Barcelona plunged into darkness, residents stranded due to trains also having

00:05no electricity and tourists spending the night in airports and stations.

00:11It was just one day, with life back to normal soon enough.

00:14But the obvious question was, how could this happen?

00:18Some blamed a sudden solar energy failure at a time when the sun was shining brightly.

00:26The solar power plants responded as planned, in line with the grid codes.

00:32When a disruption occurred that caused the power outage, they shut down.

00:38Their protection mechanisms were closed as planned.

00:42The system worked as it ought to.

00:46So who was to blame?

00:47Nobody accepted responsibility.

00:49Neither electricity suppliers nor grid operator Red Electrica, the company tasked with ensuring

00:55the balance of supply and demand as well as voltage is always just right.

01:01Experts assume that the cause was a complicated one.

01:08The design of the grids means that outages can occur.

01:14So if the entire grid went down, it's because more than one thing failed.

01:20In November, for example, two conventional plants went down within a very short period

01:25of time, and the grid stayed up.

01:30And those were two big plants.

01:33So any power outage now would be due to a combination of many different factors.

01:39So at what point did the failure occur between generation and use?

01:44On June 17th, a good six weeks after the blanket power outage, the minister responsible presented

01:49the preliminary findings of an investigation.

01:52There were several factors leading to the total blackout.

02:00We have indications that there was too little capacity to control the voltage.

02:06There were various reasons.

02:09On the one hand, poor planning, but also because operators did not follow standard procedure.

02:16Meaning human error on the part of both producers and those responsible for the network.

02:21The investigation is still ongoing.

02:24For experts, however, the grid itself is a problem in Spain.

02:32Investment in Spain is lower than elsewhere in Europe, whether you measure it per kilometer

02:37or per user.

02:41The power outage has shown that the system's lines and control mechanisms need improving.

02:46But the minister also announced plans to expand Spain's relatively modest electricity connections

02:51to France.

02:52The right approach?

02:54A larger network would have favored more French or Central European resources.

03:02But for me, focusing on battery storage would seem to be faster and cheaper, especially

03:07for taxpayers.

03:09Batteries are cheaper and faster to acquire than investing in a connection to France.

03:16Spain is a pioneer in clean energy.

03:19But so far the government has neglected the full potential of solar and wind, and the role

03:24of batteries in grid stabilisation.

03:28Right now, nuclear and gas-fired power plants can ensure that an appropriate voltage level

03:33is maintained.

03:36But not all of them were in operation on the day of the blackout.

03:44All renewable energy plants ensuring that the voltage is regulated not only improves capacities

03:50throughout Spain, as will be going from a few hundred plants to thousands, but the costs

03:55for consumers will also be a lot lower.

04:01When the Spanish grid was brought back online, this hydroelectric power station near Valencia

04:06played a leading role.

04:09Having a pumped storage plant means that it functions like a large battery.

04:14Experts say Spain should be investing more in such facilities.

04:19The nationwide power outage and its wider impact have revealed weaknesses.

04:24The government will have to adapt supervision and regulation to prevent Spain from being brought

04:29to a standstill again, and in the process, instill confidence in a reliable energy supply

04:36for households and businesses.

Blackouts in Spain — What went wrong?

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