⚡️The most dangerous blackout in history, collapsing the grids of🇪🇸Spain &🇵🇹Portugal, was caused by the disconnection between🇪🇸Spain &🇫🇷France, thus between the🇪🇸🇵🇹Iberian Peninsula & the🇪🇺EU 🚨Interdependency is the most important variable in today's energy geopolitics 🧵
According to REE, the operator of the Spanish grid, the giant blackout of yesterday, one of the most spectacular failures of the European energy systems in the age of electrification, was caused by the sudden disconnection between the Spanish and French electricity grids.
For the operator, the loss of power that affected the Spanish grid at 12.33 CET, and which causes are yet unknown, determined such a huge imbalance on the grid that brought the same Spanish one to disconnect from the French one, and thus to the EU. In turn, this led to the
total collapse of the Spanish electricity network and, as a result, the collapse of the Portuguese one. Even though some solar, wind, and thermal generation remained operative in the Iberian peninsula, even in the immediate aftermath of the drop in electricity distribution and
transmission, the inability of the grid to balance band generation through the connection with the EU determined the loss of an abysmal amount of power generation. We are far from having determined what really caused the sudden drop of 15 GW of electricity generation for five
seconds that brought in this domino effect, and yet we could assess a few things: 1) The electricity interconnection between European countries is so deep that the investments in expansion, maintenance, and creation of new interconnections must be a priority for policymakers
2) What happens to the EU electricity grid does not stay within the EU. Not only the Spanish and Portuguese grids were affected, but also the🇫🇷French and🇲🇦Moroccan ones experienced troubles. In the latter, internet services went out for hours. This has political consequences too
3) The Iberian grid collapse is a testimony that in Europe, energy islands exist. Geography, economy and politics are at the root of this. The lives of thousands yesterday were at stake and determining the causes of the blackout is pivotal for the EU energy security & transition.
You could find more about the geopolitics of electricity interconnections here ➡️Turkey counters Greece and Israel with a grand plan for power interconnections 🫴https://rebrand.ly/RE2121 ➡️China leapfrog technology to cut undersea cables 🫴https://rebrand.ly/RE1959