Remains the mystery for the causes of the blackout in the Iberian Peninsula (graph)
Spain and Portugal, which imported electricity from Spain the time of the blackoutreturn to normalcy after one of the largest power outages ever in Europe, which paralyzed the two countries for hours on Monday and caused problems in areas south of France.
Shortly after twelve at noon, about 15 GW were lost, almost half of the energy needed (demand) at that time the electricity system.
Without electricity, millions of citizens were suffering as it was impossible to withdraw from the ATMs while airline flights were canceled as were railways. Without light traffic lights there was chaos on the streets and the economic activity paralyzed in several occasions…
The current comes back but the mystery remains
As the search begins, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says that the government does not exclude anything, as the sudden loss of about 15 gigavat from its electricity grid interrupted public transport, telephone services and airports.
Although many have attributed the blackout to a « rare atmospheric phenomenon », among them energy managers in Spain and Portugal, many even official bodies did not rule out the sabotage resulting from cyberattack.
Joe Tidi, a cyberattack expert, replied to the BBC that: « The simple answer is yes, it could be, as you can never say ‘never’ to cyberspace. But it’s too early to say so, and it is much more likely that an accident or technical mistake has caused a power outage. «
However, Red Electrica (Ree), the Spanish electricity manager, announced that the preliminary assessment of the causes of the blackout excludes cyberattack.
In any case, the consequences of such a large imbalance in the electrical system are obvious that they are great. According to a Bloomberg economist, the power outage could cause a blow to GDP, Spain, about 0.5% this quarter. And it’s not just that. The systems of European states are interconnected and energy transactions are extensive, which means that the vulnerability of one can easily and quickly affect others.
And yet, not to the same degree to everyone as France was implied, stating that its nuclear power is more controlled than renewable energy.
Source: ot.gr
