Apr 29, 2025
Spain and Portugal experience significant power failure; Iberia cut off from Europe.
On April 28, Spain and Portugal experienced a significant power outage that affected a large area of Iberia, with the cause still unknown, according to national grid operators and government entities.
Spain's Red Electrica de Espana reported a sudden drop in consumption at 12:33 PM Spanish time, falling from about 25 GW to just over 10 GW amidst a complete loss of load.
REE indicated that power recovery was starting in northern and southern regions, stating that it was crucial for gradually restoring electricity. Recovery is expected to take six to ten hours, as shared by Eduardo Prieto, REE's operations director. REE has not yet determined the cause of the outage, describing it as an unprecedented situation.
The Spanish government announced that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was convening an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council at 3 PM local time. By around 6 PM, Sanchez stated that power restoration efforts were ongoing while the reasons for the blackout remained unclear. Later, REE reported that one-fifth of demand in the Spanish peninsula had been restored.
Four of Spain's seven nuclear reactors had automatically shut down due to the power loss and had alerted the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) of an emergency situation. These reactors were in the process of recovering external power and preparing to reconnect to the grid. Meanwhile, French grid operator RTE confirmed that the French grid remained secure and that there was no risk of cascading effects from the incident. The Iberian grid had been automatically disconnected from the European grid between 12:38 PM and 1:30 PM, with the 400 kV power line between French and Spanish Catalonia restored afterward. While there were brief power outages in the Basque Country in France, power was fully restored.
RTE has mobilized to assist the Spanish grid operator and has already restored 700 MW of power, with the capability to increase assistance to 950 MW when feasible. The European Commission is in communication with Spanish and Portuguese authorities, as well as industry group ENTSO-E, to assess the situation. European Council President Antonio Costa stated that there were no indications of a cyber attack and that grid operators are investigating the cause and working on restoring power. Portuguese grid operator REN attributed the outages to a failure in the Spanish grid, linked to a rare atmospheric phenomenon that caused unusual oscillations in high-voltage lines due to extreme temperature variations in Spain.
Spain's Red Electrica de Espana reported a sudden drop in consumption at 12:33 PM Spanish time, falling from about 25 GW to just over 10 GW amidst a complete loss of load.
REE indicated that power recovery was starting in northern and southern regions, stating that it was crucial for gradually restoring electricity. Recovery is expected to take six to ten hours, as shared by Eduardo Prieto, REE's operations director. REE has not yet determined the cause of the outage, describing it as an unprecedented situation.
The Spanish government announced that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was convening an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council at 3 PM local time. By around 6 PM, Sanchez stated that power restoration efforts were ongoing while the reasons for the blackout remained unclear. Later, REE reported that one-fifth of demand in the Spanish peninsula had been restored.
Four of Spain's seven nuclear reactors had automatically shut down due to the power loss and had alerted the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) of an emergency situation. These reactors were in the process of recovering external power and preparing to reconnect to the grid. Meanwhile, French grid operator RTE confirmed that the French grid remained secure and that there was no risk of cascading effects from the incident. The Iberian grid had been automatically disconnected from the European grid between 12:38 PM and 1:30 PM, with the 400 kV power line between French and Spanish Catalonia restored afterward. While there were brief power outages in the Basque Country in France, power was fully restored.
RTE has mobilized to assist the Spanish grid operator and has already restored 700 MW of power, with the capability to increase assistance to 950 MW when feasible. The European Commission is in communication with Spanish and Portuguese authorities, as well as industry group ENTSO-E, to assess the situation. European Council President Antonio Costa stated that there were no indications of a cyber attack and that grid operators are investigating the cause and working on restoring power. Portuguese grid operator REN attributed the outages to a failure in the Spanish grid, linked to a rare atmospheric phenomenon that caused unusual oscillations in high-voltage lines due to extreme temperature variations in Spain.