Spain and Portugal create a follow -up group to determine the causes of the blackout | Spain
The crisis unleashed by the unprecedented blackout which kept the Iberian Peninsula without electricity supply for long hours last Monday has pushed Spain and Portugal to create this Friday of a follow -up group to determine the Causes of service interruption. In the middle of the bridge in Madrid for the day of the Community, both the criticisms of the PP for government management, and the Assumption of Responsibility or the role of Spanish Electric Electricity have re -captured the political debate. Four days after the Black cast that also affected a part of France, the Executive’s agenda, which has requested all data from electric companiesremain conditioned by this matter.
In a telematic meeting held this morning between the third vice president and minister for the ecological transition, Sara Aagesen, and the lusa responsible for the Environment and Energy, María da Graça Carvalho, both countries have decided to constitute a “formal” group that will lead themselves and that will feature the presence of the energy secretaries of the two governments in order to advance the investigations.
In the words of Aages in a press release sent to the media, it is not « only a data exchange, but about collaborating to identify the incident, the cause, and above all, to put the necessary measures so that it does not happen again. »
In that meeting, Spain and Portugal have also decided Preparation of your reportsthe statement points out, which adds that Aagesen and Carvalho have been located to meet again telematically next week and « intensify government contacts to the highest level. »
In addition, the third vice president has sent two letters to the French and Moroccan authorities, requesting information that helps clarify the interruption of the electricity supply and thanking them for the support provided during the crisis.
As for the Portuguese government, he has expressed his intention to maintain paralyzed commercial exchanges of electricity “As a precaution” while investigating what happened and the exact cause of the blackout is determined. This has been pointed out by the Minister of Environment and Energy of Portugal, Maria Da Graça Carvalho, in statements to journalists to the south of the country.
« Reach to the bottom »
The first vice president, María Jesús Montero, said this Friday that the Government has set out to « get to the bottom, reach the truth » about the owl of the electric blackout. Faced with the criticism of the popular, who already They have slipped that the Executive hides informationhe has assured that the conclusions will be made « available to citizens. » In statements to the media in Constantine (Seville) collected by Europa Press, the Ricienda responsible has called to distinguish between “the general interest, which is the one defended by the Government” and the “particular interest, which defends each of the companies that operate in the private or electrical network”, a company participated in 20% by the State. « All statements must be seen cautiously, » he warned. « There are many compensation at stake », so that each of the companies « tries to defend their part », and in that context it is up to the government « to try to reach the truth to know what happened and in its case purify the responsibilities, » he said.
« The reality is that with us we are not in a hurry to know what the cause is, but what we want is to know it with rigor and accuracy, » said the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, after presiding over the Moncloa the situation committee for the electrical crisis.
In another first -hour interview in the public chain, the person responsible for digital transformation, Óscar López, has again accused the Popular Party of functioning as “a nuclear lobby”, after the blackout has served the right -wing games to put in Keep the role of renewables. López has reiterated the executive’s commitment to the calendar agreed in 2019 for the closure of the centrals and has avoided confronting the coalition partner, to add, which has asked for these days that Spanish Electric Red Pass back to public hands. The minister has thrown balls out when answering that now is the time to focus on finding out the causes that led to the loss of the supply.
Meanwhile, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has confirmed this Friday that it analyzes “from the first moment” what happened last Monday, within the scope of its Ex Post supervision competences. The agency, which has already internally approached the incident both at the technical level and in its council, collaborates with the Interministerial Commission activated by the Government. Although it is not part of that organ of structural way, it does participate as one of the key entities in the reconstruction of the facts. The Executive has confirmed that the information requested from the system operators is being received progressively, although more data will be required due to the technical complexity of the analysis.
On the other hand, from the Popular Party they insist that the Executive hides information about the blackout. Its president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has demanded this Friday a « International Independent Audit » To investigate what happened, considering that the government « is not reliable. » « Portugal does not trust President Sánchez. I either. And most Spaniards either, » said the opposition leader from Pontevedra in the company of several leaders of the Galician PP. Feijóo has strongly criticized the lack of clarity of the Executive and Electric Red, and has insisted that they could be hiding information in order to build a favorable story. « Either there was manifest incompetence, or you are trying to cover what really happened, » he said. In this context, he has rejected that Red Electrica is a private operator: « it is irresponsibility, » he said, recalling that 20% of the company is owned by the State through the SEPI.
