Granada, Badajoz, and Seville: The power outage maze is beginning to unravel.

MadridThe maze of the April 28th power blackout is beginning to unravel. The onset of the incident is now limited to the towns of Granada, Badajoz, and Seville, while the possibility of a cyberattack on the Spanish electricity system operator, Red Eléctrica, being the victim of a cyberattack has been ruled out. Both conclusions were anticipated this Wednesday by Third Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, during her appearance in the Congress of Deputies to account for the electricity incident that has been going on for hours and has left the entire Iberian Peninsula without power.

"We continue to make progress [in the investigation]. We have already identified where the first generation losses occurred. We already know they began in Granada, Badajoz, and Seville," Aagesen explained this Wednesday. The minister explained that after the two voltage and frequency fluctuations detected half an hour before the blackout, both on the Iberian Peninsula and in parts of Europe, the losses in electricity generation in Spain reached 100% of the total. Specifically, three generation losses where it all begins:

At 12:32:57 on Monday, a loss of generation is detected at a substation in Granada; at 12:33:16 the same thing happens at a substation in Badajoz, and finally, later (12:33:17) it is detected at a substation in Seville. "Then the cascading disconnection phase begins due to overvoltage, the loss of synchronization between the peninsular system and the continental [European] system, and later the peninsular system is isolated," Aagesen recounted. From then on, the loss of generation and voltage continues, and although the safety mechanisms are activated, they are unable to prevent the zero electricity. "From there, we continue working to clarify the causes," the minister said.

A cyberattack on Red Eléctrica has been ruled out.

On the other hand, the Minister of Ecological Transition has also given more details about the causes that produced the blackout or zero electric, in energy jargon. Aagesen has anticipated that the investigation launched has already ruled out some hypotheses: "We clearly know that it was not a problem of coverage, reserves, or the size of the [electrical transmission and distribution] networks," she explained. The minister also ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack on the Spanish electricity system operator, Red Eléctrica. Until now, the Spanish government had considered this possibility, unlike Red Eléctrica itself, which ruled it out the day after the power outage. "I can give you some good news. No evidence has been found that the system operator, Red Eléctrica, has suffered a cyberattack," Aagesen explained. Sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition clarify that the possibility of a cyberattack has only been ruled out for the operator, but not for other actors.

The Spanish government's blackout analysis committee, created on April 30, has reached all these conclusions. This committee must submit a report within three months, while the independent group of European experts also investigating the incident has six months to present a preliminary study with recommendations (the final report from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity will not be available until September 2026). Aagesen has also announced that they will meet with this group on May 22nd to share the work done so far.

Prior notices from Red Eléctrica y Competencia

The progress of the investigation into the April 28th electrical incident coincides with information made public this Wednesday indicating that Red Eléctrica and the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) had already warned two years ago that "tensions" in the electrical grid could cause a blackout like the one on April 28th. In a document published on November 13, 2023 in Official State Gazette (BOE), consulted by the ARA after the progress The CountryThe Competition Authority (Competencia) has cited the warnings from the electricity system operator regarding a "general increase in the voltage level in the transmission grid, which, at certain times, exceeds the maximum permissible values." "These high voltages in the grid could cause the untimely disconnection of facilities connected to the grid," the document warned two years ago.

The text identified the "decrease in electricity demand" and the "deployment of distributed generation," i.e., renewable energy systems, as causes of this situation. It also noted that "at specific times, despite activating all available voltage control tools," resources had not been "sufficient to ensure that voltage values ​​remain within the established permissible margins." For all these reasons, and based on the information provided by Red Eléctrica, the CNMC called for action: "The scenarios anticipated in the short and medium term suggest that this effect may increase if urgent measures are not taken to correct it."

Sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition indicate that the warnings from Competition and Red Eléctrica were not directed at the department. "It is the responsibility of the CNMC after Red Eléctrica's warning. They are not asking for improvements, they are asking for a change in regulation," the same sources indicate.

The content of the document in the Official State Gazette (BOE) has been revealed one day after the same CNMC warns of possible multi-million dollar sanctions in case it detects any serious or very serious violations at the root of the blackout. This was stated yesterday by the organization's president, Cani Fernández, who announced in an appearance before Congress that the entity has already begun investigating, with requests for information from all involved, what happened that day that caused the Iberian Peninsula to be without electricity for hours. If the findings reveal violations, disciplinary proceedings would be opened which, depending on the sanctioning regime, could result in fines of up to 60 million euros.