Could a stronger energy connection with France have prevented the great blackout?

BrusselsBrussels also does not know what the causes of this are. the great blackout that hit the Iberian PeninsulaBut it is clear what the path is to prevent a repeat: better energy interconnection between member states, including Spain and France. Both the European Commission and the experts consulted by ARA point out that the European Union does not have a unified electricity market, which weakens the bloc's energy security and, therefore, increases the likelihood of supply outages like the one on April 28.

In fact, the first reaction of the community executive was already clear. "Whatever the reasons for the blackout, what is clear is that a more integrated and interconnected EU would strengthen our security of supply," European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho responded emphatically at a press conference. Along the same lines, in the debate in the European Parliament on the supply outage, European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen focused his speech to urge Member States to interconnect their electricity grids more and better.

In a telephone conversation with this newspaper, the president of the PIMEC Energy Commission and honorary president of Gestores Energéticos de Catalunya, José Enrique Vázquez, takes the same view as Brussels, and is even more clear. "If it weren't for the weak and very small interconnections that Spain and France have, there probably wouldn't have been the great blackout," the expert responds. Energy consultant and professor at OBS Business School, Marcos Rupérez, also shares the same opinion, noting that "the more connected" the European electricity grid is, "the more solid it will be and, therefore, the more difficult it will be for it to crash."

In this regard, Vázquez emphasizes that "the Iberian Peninsula is an energy island" and, unlike other parts and states of the European Union, it is not well interconnected. On the contrary, he asserts that there are countries, like Spain, that are increasingly generating and consuming more energy from renewable sources, but have good energy connections to guarantee security of supply in the event of a power failure from wind or photovoltaic power. "It's obvious that electricity travels very quickly, and therefore, you can transport it from one side of the EU to the other in a moment. If there were a real desire to have a single energy market, it would be a very powerful and secure network," adds the Pimec expert.

Beyond interconnections, Vázquez points to other measures that can be taken to improve security of supply in the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, especially in light of the growth of renewables, the honorary president of the Energy Managers Group points out that it is necessary to "improve protection systems and grid management" and "expand storage capacity," among other things.

French isolationism

Both Vázquez and Rupérez point to France and its economic interests as one of the main reasons for the lack of connections between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the continent. For obvious geographical reasons, Spain, Portugal, and Andorra depend on the French government for their energy interconnection with Europe. However, in the words of the OBS Business School professor, France "wants to protect its nuclear power from increasingly powerful Spanish energy competition and to continue selling energy throughout Europe." "Perhaps Germany would be interested in a good connection, but France has all the power, and I highly doubt they will allow it," Rupérez laments.

Another option could be to improve the connection with Morocco, which is increasingly using photovoltaic energy. However, as Vázquez points out, solar energy generated in Moroccan territory could allow Spain to have "more energy at a good price, but it would not provide security or stability to the grid."

For this reason, Spain, Portugal, and Brussels are pressuring France to increase its energy connectivity with the rest of Europe, but experts regret that the European Commission isn't more inflexible and is quietly demanding it. "If the blackout had occurred in France, the pressure from Brussels would be different, and it would be much more vigilant in forcing Member States to improve their interconnection," Rupérez criticizes.