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On April 28th, a widespread blackout plunged millions across Spain, Portugal, and parts of south-west France into darkness, disrupting homes, transit systems, and even sporting events like the Madrid Open. The outage, which began shortly before midday, triggered a swift and coordinated response by national grid operators and utilities such as Red Eléctrica de España (REE) and Portugal’s Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), who gradually restored power across the affected regions.
The precise cause remains elusive. Early speculation pointed to atmospheric anomalies, but REN later disavowed any such attribution. Experts now suggest the likely culprit was a sharp deviation in grid frequency—below the European standard of 50Hz—causing cascading disconnections across interconnected power plants, including one in France. These failures underline the vulnerability of modern grids, especially amid the rising complexity of managing renewable energy sources.
Cyberattack concerns linger: Though political leaders, including António Costa, president of the European Council, and Spain’s Teresa Ribera, emphasized the absence of evidence for foul play, cybersecurity concerns linger. Spain’s national security council convened an emergency session, and Portugal’s prime minister acknowledged that the possibility of a cyber-attack had not been ruled out. With energy infrastructure increasingly digitized and interconnected, such blackouts inevitably spark scrutiny over potential vulnerabilities to digital intrusion.
Spain’s aggressive push toward renewable energy—56% of electricity last year, with a target of 81% by 2030—adds layers of complexity. Intermittent supply from wind and solar demands precise balancing of the grid. Any disruption, whether technical or malicious, can reverberate widely through shared networks.
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