Why some datáphones worked without a network and others not

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The blackout that He plunged Spain yesterday in the dark He is leaving several learnings along the way. One is that The radio It has proven to be the ideal means of communication in times of crisis. Another, which in case of blackout, your neighbor’s network coverage It can be completely different from yours. And a third has to do with a doubt that you may have raised: how nose worked yesterday some datáphones, while others were completely useless. Datáphones with SIM. During the blackout hoursthere was a type of dataphone that was practically unusable: the one that worked by SIM card. You may have ever had problems when paying in a trade because the dataphone had no coverage and gave connection error. Imagine that phenomenon with a good part of the completely fallen national network infrastructure. No mobile network connection, a dataphone with SIM does not work. It is a logic that is understood even better knowing the operating system that feeds the datáphones: Android. Dataphone connected to Wi -Fi. The upper bar interface is exactly the same of Android Stock, because these devices use Android. Datáphones with fiber connection. Connecting to a SIM card with 3G or 4G connection is not the only way datáphones have to make payments, it is also possible to connect them to a router that provides wifi thanks to the optical fiber. It is exactly the same process that performs a mobile phone or any other device that connects to this type of network. Mercadona was one of the great examples in Spainthanks to its SAI (uninterrupted feeding system). In other words, the supermarket chain had numerous energy generators, which allowed to maintain the electricity supply of its shops limited. During the time in which they were operational, the TPV could both load and maintain a network connection. “Offline” datáphones. Without connection to mobile or wifi network, would it remain technically possible to make a dataphone purchase? The answer is another yes. Both visa and mastercard use a Offline authorizations systemsomething that makes it possible to make transactions even in scenarios in which the terminal has no connection. The TPV stores locally (encrypted) the transaction data, to send them to the bank at the time the connection is recovered. This ability to operate offline depends on both the type of TPV and the issuing bank itself, which must allow it. This last solution is minority in Spain, and the TPVs that were working in businesses such as Mercadona did it thanks to the electricity supply and network connection. But, technically, it is possible to make them work without it. Payment platforms. A dataphone does not serve much without a payment platform. Although the TPV is associated with a specific bank (BBVA, Caixa, Sabadell, etc.), transactions pass through a payment platform. In Spain, the most used is Redsys. This operates as an intermediary between the two shops (store and bank), validating and authorizing the transaction. Both banks and Redsys have energy backup infrastructure. During the blackout, crisis protocols were activated and most operations were carried out with a certain degree of continuity. The ability of entities to maintain their services during the blackout depends exclusively on these energy support systems (generators and SAI). The end of cash. The energy blackout has raised the inevitable: to think about whether or not Spain is prepared to The end of cash. During the fall hours the shops were divided into two: those that could operate with hardly any problems thanks to a good network connection (mobile or wifi) and their own energy supply, and those that had to close completely. Without battery or connection there is no dataphone or computer program that can manage payments, and there is only cash. Image | Sumup In Xataka | Half of the Germans do not trust the digital euro. In Spain the thing is even worse

Not the entire peninsula was left without stable access to the Internet, there was an exception: "Starlink was better than usual"

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When the light left yesterday I did not alarmed. Then I realized that I did not have data, nor could I make calls, and I knew something fat It had passed. Starlink was the exception. Without wifi, or mobile connection, many are completely incommunicado. And although some operators they managed to partially restore the service With the generators of their cell towers, only users of Starlink They had means to feed the router and the antenna enjoyed a stable and fast connection throughout the day. With more than 7,000 Starlink satellites in orbitthe constellation of Spacex worked in the Iberian Peninsula without major problem. Satellites have the capacity to communicate with each other and, although they depend on land stations to access the Internet, they have backup equipment in case of energy loss, such as generators, solar panels and batteries. Youtuber Redskull maintained its Internet connection with Starlink and a cargo station A youtuber in the Malaga axarchy. Known as Redskull On YouTube, Alex ran out of light in the province of Malaga between 12:30 and 17:45, but did not recover the mobile connection until the next day. However, he continued connected through Starlink. “It worked throughout the time that the light cut lasted,” he told Xataka. “The discharge and climb speeds were even better than usual: about 300 MB of discharge and 30 mb of climb.” The smallest number of customers using the service by the blackout explains the latter. “Normally, at night, Starlink’s speeds are lower because the network is more congested. Yesterday it was not so.” Alex solved the lack of light with a huge external battery, the Jackery Explorer 1000 V2 Energy Station, which gave him for 12 hours of use, including the feeding of a mesh network that has installed in his house to improve the Wi -Fi coverage. However, he did not need to consume the load during the day thanks to a solar panel of 100 W. The Graells family maintained its Internet connection with Starlink, Solar Energy and Batteries Teleworking in a town in Barcelona. The Graells family He has solar panels and batteries of Tesla in his house, a single -family house of L’Ametlla del Vallès where two people telework. They only found out of the blackout due to the notification of the Tesla app because they also have a Starlink connection. “The connection was the same as any day, very good for particular use,” Eduardo Graells told Xataka. “Ping of 22 ms. Download of about 150-200mbps. Upload of about 15mbps. It was used from the early morning without any interruption until 18:00. At 20:00 we used it for YouTube and some series. Electricity returned to our area at 2:30 in the morning.” In Xataka While almost all Spain immersed in chaos, a place continued to function normally: Mercadona Despite the 14 hours of the blackout, the Graells lived a normal day with an eye on the battery, which went from 70% at the time of light cut to 40% when the supply was recovered. “Starlink can have some disconnection of 1-2 seconds when it seems to change satellite, and very occasionally. You just notice if you are talking in a videoconference. Watching movies, football, formula 1, etc., do not notice, I imagine that for the buffer.” Five stations in Spain. Starlink ends Open two terrestrial stations of Starlink In the Iberian Peninsula, one in the province of Barcelona and another in Santa Olalla, province of Toledo. There are already five, added to the three in Madrid, Huelva and Alicante. And as we have seen, resistant to blackout. {“Videid”: “X86xfvs”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “Starlink arrives in Spain! This is the satellite Internet of Elon Musk”, “Tag”: “Webedia-Prod”, “Duration”: “279” These stations are small, but recognizable by the numerous phase antennas, covered with white domes. They maintain the connection of the constellation with the control centers and serve as link doors for the traffic of Internet Starlink customers. Basically, they act as intermediaries, receiving data from satellites and sending them to Internet networks. Image | Starlink In Xataka | Starlink satellites have transformed war: China and Russia work on “Starlink Killers” to be able to disable them (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news Not the entire peninsula was left without stable Internet access, there was an exception: “Starlink was better than usual” It was originally posted in Xataka by Matías S. Zavia .

And suddenly, a great battery and the Sun of Murcia saved me from the great blackout

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After a crisis, a couple of disturbing war conflicts, Trump’s second mandate And a worldwide pandemic, The biggest blackout in Spain I shouldn’t have caused me so much concern. But at home, at three o’clock at the beginning and with the children newcomers of the school, his nervousness was very evident. And ours. No electricity grid for almost 12 hours And disconnected from the world almost the same hours except for the blessed radio to batteries, at home the tranquility for the tense and indefinite wait came to us in the most unexpected way: the radiant sun of Murcia and some test batteries in Xataka. This is the story of how some Solar panels connected to a large battery The great blackout of Spain mitigated at home. The reality that everything works with electricity The entrance/exit door of the work center, which we usually opened through an application installed on the mobile, only paid attention to our need to exit urgently when the concierge, analog key in hand, opened it and threw from it under the almost 30 degrees of two in the afternoon in Murcia. At the end of April. “Googlear” if the suppliers of the service stations need food to work, something that would have taken me 10 seconds at another time, was the beginning of many hours of energy uncertainty whose solution did not remember that I had at home On the way by car home, with the deposit near the reserve and without knowing for sure if the suppliers need food to function – or possibility of Googlear the answer to my doubt – the radio was the only point of connection with the real situation. Because the theories about what was happening did not take 10 seconds to run from Boca by ear and another ear … Suddenly, everyone had spoken with a family member abroad who confirmed without any doubt that it was a European issue. What European, world. An “makeshift” installation of solar panels on the home terrace With the few news that I could hear about what was happening I got home. The atmosphere was very similar to that of pandemic, with uncertainty dominating everything. And the feeling of living too many things for the first time. The noon food had to improvise according to very clear criteria: use the perishable of a refrigerator that we did not know when it would be operational and resort to gas barbecue. Yes, the induction cuisine does not get along with the lack of electricity. Already with the serenity that gives the stomach well attended, as a game to calm the kids, we analyze the situation at home and draw a plan for the afternoon. We are looking for lanterns, laptops, “powerbanks” and any device that could be charged. The smartphones and tablets between them. To do so we had an immense, literally, allied at home: some ecoflow batteries tested in Xataka. Time to recharge everything rechargeable. And cook the “cooking” With the internal load of the batteries, a main of 4,000 mAh and an assistant of the same capacity, almost 80%, the four plugs and four USB ports (two of type C and two of type a) they began to recharge everything that we found at home. Including the batteries that we already know that they must be in every emergency kit that boasts. Without the possibility of loading of any kind, the solar batteries of the house offered a recharge point to family and friends who requested it The objective was that, if the situation was extended until night, we could have operational devices And of course Lights ready so that, at least at home, the situation was the most similar normality. Batteries, camping and reading/leisure lights for the long wait Since it was still the beginning of the afternoon in Murcia, the batteries continued to recharge to the usual rhythm in their “rush hour”, about 1,000-1.200 W per hour. One of the great advantages of these Ecoflow batteries for recharge is that they can be feed both from the electricity and connected directly to solar panels. The radio we were about to “recycle” last summer We take advantage of this situation of energy surplus for both less important issues and relax with a fresh coffee and to use certain thermomix type appliances, the microwave or a small electric oven. Everything we could take advantage of that solar energy seemed to us a good idea at that time. Things of situations that are first lived. Mobile of friends and family who lived near them were recharged with our house battery We also rejoice at home of having stored an old analog radio because, without data or functional telephone, it was our only source of reliable information. The great blackout was not this time through streets. No neighborhoods. Not even in cities. But the most alarming was that the duration of it was a great unknown. So the very few moments of connectivity allowed us Offer our batteries to family and friends They lived close to recharge their mobile phones. And without sun, the batteries take control of the house With the different official information about everything that happened arriving via radio but on droppers, the sunset reached us at home with the unknown about what would take the electricity grid of our Murcia area to be operational. So without a sun, it was time to start squeezing the Energy stored throughout the day until it exhausts her. At night, the solar battery was ready to use the stored energy and feed the refrigerator for hours and thereby save food for a very valuable time The system that we have ecoflow proof does not allow energy injection to the home network itself if it is not connected to the general. But his poOutput tenance of up to 4000 W gives us the possibility to use powerful appliances in a timely manner, as we did with the water tank or microwave. At night, in … Read more

I don’t have an aspiring robot at home, but I want one. These are the ones I have on the radar

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Keeping the house clean is a complicated task, especially if we live with young children or pets. Any help we can have for it is key, especially if we don’t have too much time to clean. There are undoubtedly the aspiring robotsdevices capable of Keep the soil clean autonomously without having to worry too much about it. Choosing a model among all those that are not easy, either by budget or because we simply cannot decide among many there are. To me, with three pets at home, it is the best investment that occurs to me right now so as not to have to be with the vacuum all day, something that I am obliged to do right now. Among all, These are the ones I have in the radar right now: DREame X40 Ultra Completewith 12,000 PA of suction power, by 899 euros. Irobot Roomba Combo 10 Max with Autowashwith highway and great navigation, by 699 euros. Philips Homerun 2000 Seriesa more economical option, by 360.99 euros. Xiaomi Robot Vacuum X20 Maxwith great autonomy and very good performance when it comes to scrub, for 649.99 euros. Roborock S7 Max Ultrawith good guided system and a base with three pillars, by 626 euros. DREame X40 Ultra Complete The first option of this selection is the X40 Ultra Complete de Dreame, an aspiring robot that stands out for offering A great suction power: 12,000 Pa. Its side brushes extend 10 mm to reach areas that normally remain out of reach of this type of robots, which facilitates that there are no areas that are left without aspirating. It is a great option that we have reduced to the 899 euros. DREAME X40 ULTRA COMPLETE ROBOT ASPIRATOR AND FREGESUELOS, 12000PA SUCTION, ROBOT ASPIRATOR WITH REMOBLE AND ELEVABLE MOPA, 70 ℃ SELF -DEVIABLE MOP, SIDE AND EXTENSIBLE BRUSH, DIRTATION DUCK * Some price may have changed from the last review Irobot Roomba Combo 10 Max with Autowash We now go to an Irobot option: your Roomba Combo 10 Max with Autowash. As is usually the case with Irobot devices, this Roomba stands out for offering a large navigation system, Able to overcome obstacles of all kinds. It has a four -phase cleaning system that is also perfect to eliminate dirt from the most complicated areas, in addition to having technology to leave clean carpets without damaging them. It comes out by 699 euros. IROBOT ROOM COMBO 10 MAX + AUTOWASH BASE, ASPIRATOR ROBOT AND FRIEASUELOS, SELF -COUPLE MULTIFUNCTIONAL, FILL THE WATER, WATER WATER, MOBS, HAZENCY, RETRACT MOPE, AVOID OBSTACLES, APP * Some price may have changed from the last review Philips Homerun 2000 Series If we are looking for a cheaper option, but that offers a great result, we may be interested in this homerun 2000 Philips series. ANDThis would be the model that I would choose for a small flooralthough their autonomy and their suction power are going well for any type of housing. Its price also makes it perfect for the most tight budgets: right now it costs 360.99 euros. Philips Homerun Series 2000: Robot vacuum cleaner and friegasuelos 2 in 1 with 2700 pa for suction & 130 min of autonomy, laser navigation, automatic emptying station, app controlled by app, blue (xu2100/10) * Some price may have changed from the last review Xiaomi Robot Vacuum X20 Max We continue with an Xiaomi option, the Robot Vacuum X20 Max. Unlike the previous one, this model would be a great option if we have a large home, thanks especially to its great autonomy that gives for Up to 100 minutes running. It has a very complete mobile application, good suction power and right now we can buy it for 649.99 euros. Xiaomi Robot Vacuum X20 Max – Robot vacuum cleaner and pierces with smart laser navigation system (LDS), 8000 PA suction, cleaning routes in Zigzag, black (ES version) * Some price may have changed from the last review Roborock S7 Max Ultra We close this selection of vacuum robots with the S7 Max Ultra. It is a model that has a filling and automatic washing system for the mopa (as well as autosecado). It has 5,500 PA of suction power and highlights its base with three very different pillars. Its mop, which automatically lifts to avoid surfaces such as carpets, stands out for having a great performance. Costs 626 euros. Roborock S7 Max Ultra Robot Aspirator with Avitation Active Obstacles 5500 Pa Robot vacuum and automatic emptying/Automatic automatic washing/drying/automatic filling * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | DREame, Irobot, Xiaomi, Philips, Roborock In Xataka | Best vacuum robots in quality price. Which to buy depending on the use and five recommended models In Xataka | These are the seven best cleaning devices to keep dirt at bay, on video

While almost all Spain immersed in chaos, a place continued to function normally: Mercadona

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We are on Monday, April 28, 2025. Spain suffers the effects of a Mass blackout which has a good part of the country’s industry and commerce. All? No! A Valencian chain of irreducible supermarkets remains open and even speaks of “normality” in the middle of the chaos. His name: Mercadona. Under his label, the lack of supply that yesterday stopped the activity of other chains in the sector resulted in something different: Customer queues, Full carts and razed baldas. His They were not the only premises that followed at the foot of the canyon (Carrefour, Alcampo or El Corte Inglés had operational establishments), but it did stand out on a key front: neighborhood stores, closer to the citizen, which gave it considerable visibility. The big question is … How did he do it? Of blackouts and urgent purchases. If something demonstrated the pandemic, just five years ago, it is that the Spaniards do not like to play it. In exceptional situations, such as the announcement of an alarm or A mass blackout that leaves much of the peninsula without electricity for hours, we leave home, we go to the supermarket and We buy what is necessary To fill our fridge. Even in days like yesterday in which the fridge served rather. X is a barbarian mirror of that answer. A quick search shows tens of videos of saturated stores, long lines, empty shelves And people with loaded carts of water carafes. The funny thing is that all these videos are recorded in the same place: Mercadona. That the images have left some of their 1,600 establishments It is not surprising. Roig’s premises were operational and with supply while those of other firms in the sector They remained closed. “The bunkers would be landowned”. The situation was so curious and in a way he remembered the first days of the pandemic, that there were those who threw a sneer in networks. “Spain collapsed and Mercadona today running even with datáphones”, He joked in x Álvaro Wasabi. “If Fallout’s apocalypse was fulfilled, zero doubts that bunkers would be landowned.” “Mercadona when something extraordinary occurs and people believe they should buy toilet paper for 50 years,” Comments Nebreda Italohispano Next to an image of a pool crowded with people. “As with each catastrophe, the only one who has won with the #Cortedeluz is Mercadona,” Add in another tweet Eduardo Bernal. A unique case? No. Mercadona is perhaps the chain that has generated more expectation and comments in networks, but It is not the only that yesterday managed to keep operational at least part of his network of stores. The English Court was also able to open department stores thanks to the use of structure, as well as Alcampo or Carrefour, who served in hypermarkets and part of his supermarkets. Other chains did not run the same fate with wide implementation in Spain, such as Lidl, Eroski or Day, than They were forced To lower the blind at least its smallest stores. Precisely if something has made the networks look at Mercadona is that it managed to maintain local neighborhood operations, not only large hypermarkets located in polygons or the outskirts of the cities. But and that … why? In Xataka we have contacted Mercadona to know which equipment they have exactly in their stores and how they could keep them active in the mass blackout. Waiting for these clarifications, the company’s environment has already sliding Some clues. The key is in its generators, which at least in a good number of stores allowed to maintain the uploaded blinds, operational boxes and even make charges with dataphone, an impossible option in other businesses and that made yesterday The cash was imposed (very briefly) to payment with cards or mobile. “Today we open”. In the last hours the company assured to Expansion that all their places were “open” and functioning with “normality.” Moreover, while other stores were forced to close the doors waiting for the supply to be reactivated, the abnormality in the Mercadona premises was marked by a different reality: a customer “boom”. This morning the company A tweet uploaded With photos of his shelves answered and a message: “Today we open.” Adapting to the stage. One of the keys to Mercadona’s response, says one of his employees to Xataka, is his flexibility when adapting. The stores could work thanks to the existence of their own generators, but that does not mean that (at least in some cases) the operation was the “normal”: automatic tapes were dispensed with in the boxes and part of the merchandise took the cameras to avoid spoiling and saving energy consumption. “Under minimums tried to leave essential things,” he explains. “Everything works. What happens is that the consumption is minimized to serve the customer (…). The lights were more faint than usual to save also.” Refrigerators. “The refrigerators have been emptying them throughout the day to get into the refrigeration chamber or in the frozen and be able to turn them off and that only large cameras work, which is where more merchandise can be maintained in good condition,” details the same employee. “As that merchandise is removed, the refrigerators are turned off to save electricity.” At least in its store, he recounts, the company has consulted employees if they could enter a little earlier than usual to recover normality. Bathroom tails and prepared dishes. That Mercadona remained operational while other businesses were forced to close the door turned their premises, in a way, more than supermarkets. After visiting one of the stores in the center of Barcelona, ​​a reporter of The country He spoke yesterday In the afternoon of queues in the bathrooms and people eating dishes prepared in tables with stools. Images | Xataka In Xataka | The blackout in Spain has demonstrated which is the ideal means to inform in a crisis: the radio

In 2021 Texas stayed in the dark for days. Politicians blamed the wind, but the culprit was an old acquaintance

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The story occurred in February 2021when a historic winter storm that affected much of the state of Texas generated the last great electric blackout. Between February 13 and 17, extremely low temperatures and adverse weather conditions caused the disconnection of more than 4.5 million homes and business, some for several days. The event is considered one of the blackouts more serious in history Modern of the United States, so much that politics tried to take advantage of the “guilty.” The mirage of the wind. As we said, in February 2021, Texas lived one of the most serious energy crises in its modern history, when a winter storm paralyzed a good part of the state, causing massive power cuts, dozens of deaths and extreme conditions that affected millions. In the midst of chaos, the governor Greg Abbott appeared on national television (in Sean Hannity program, in Fox News) to directly hold the renewable energies of collapse, and especially wind. In a sharp statement, he said that the ruling showed that the State and the country continued to need fossil fuels to guarantee the winter supply. However, the accusation, repeated by other leaders conservatives and related media, not only It was wrong but deeply interested, because the data showed that the main person in charge of the collapse had been … Natural gas, not the wind. The Texas Network and its fragility. Texas has a unique electrical grid, known as Ercot (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), which operates almost independent of the rest of the national network. This deliberate disconnection, designed to avoid federal regulations, also prevents the State from importing electricity easily in case of emergency. Thus, when temperatures fell dramatically in February 2021, many electric plants (especially those fed with natural gas) They were not prepared To operate in freezing conditions. The pipes froze, the valves failed and gas production collapsed, just at the time of greatest energy demand. Although some wind turbines also froze, their weight on the network was relatively small: about 7 % of the production planned for that time of the year, according to expert calculations. Most cuts came from thermal and nuclear plants that could not operate due to lack of fuel or technical problems derived from extreme cold. Politics in a blackout. Despite this evidence, the narrative that was quickly imposed in conservative sectors was that the ruling had been caused by clean energy. From Fox News to the Wall Street JournalHE They multiplied the voices that ridiculed the renewables, called them “non -reliable” and demanded a return to coal -based energy. An old ideological campaign against environmental policies was reactivated and, in particular, against the Green New Deal promoted by some Democratic legislators. Even false images were shared, such as a photograph of frozen turbines supposedly in Texas that It turned out to be from Swedencaptured years ago during a thaw test. Social networks, media and politicians such as Congresswoman Lauren Bobert or state senator Mike Thompson They spread without contrast Uninformed arguments that placed wind and solar energy as guilty of the blackout, reinforcing a rhetoric that had been downed long before the incident. The response of experts. Numerous researchers and electrical systems specialists They denied the official version repeated by the governor and other leaders. Jesse Jenkins, engineer of the Energy System of Princeton, summarized in a phrase What happened: “All generation sources are being beaten.” Indeed, freezing affected both gas and coal, nuclear and renewable plants. The problem was not a single technology, but the lack of preparation of the infrastructure set in the face of extreme weather conditions. Leah Stokes, political scientist at the University of California in Santa Barbara, The irony stressed to New York Times of the situation: the same fossil fuels that were feeding climate change were those that had failed in an increasingly common weather scenario. From that prism, what did not support the system was not renewable energy, but an obsolete network model, little resilient and possibly more focused on economic efficiency than in climate emergencies. Climate change as a backdrop. Plus: the crisis occurred just when Joe Biden came to the presidency and had signed his First executive orders In climatic matters, reincorporating the United States to the Paris Agreement and canceling the Keystone XL pipeline. Under that context, the Texas blackout became a discursive battlefield between those who asked for more investment in clean energy and resilience, and who defended the continuous and reinforced use of fossil fuels. Biden had made it clear that his vision went through Modernize infrastructure Energy of the country, generate green jobs and reduce emissions towards a zero net target in 2050, but the storm served the opposition sectors as excuse to discredit said agenda. Broken system Far from demonstrating an alleged “uselessness” of wind energy, the Texas blackout In 2021 it was a more warning about the vulnerabilities of an energy system unable to adapt to the 21st century climate. While the authorities blamed the turbines, millions of people froze without heating, hospitals worked with emergency generators, and citizens (such as state deputy Brandon Woodard, in Kansas) they wondered if those interruptions would become A new standard. If you want also, the event left a teaching: reliability does not depend on a type of energy source, but on an integrated, resistant and modernized system that combines technologies, storage, interconnections and preparation against climatic extremes that will be more frequent. In Texas, loading the blame for the wind was a convenient, but dangerous distraction. As almost always, the true enemy were not renewable, but negligence. Image | POT In Xataka | The precedent closest to the great blackout of Spain was lived in 2003. And it also began in the interconnected network In Xataka | Having solar panels at home sounds very good in case of national blackout. The problem is that they do not always work

Your electric grid has several weak points

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The Spanish Government and Electricity of Spain, the operator responsible for ensuring that the Spanish electrical system is efficient and safe, have not yet announced What has caused the total electric blackout that We have suffered in Spain and Portugal For many hours. We may never get to know with absolute certainty What has triggered this collapsebut what we know is how Spanish electrical infrastructure works and what are its weak points. To identify its vulnerabilities it is crucial that we know with some precision what the structure of the network is, the role of the strategic interconnection points (they are known as nodes of the network) and how electricity is transported from the facilities in which it is generated to the places where it is consumed. An interesting note before getting into flour: in 2024 23.2% of Electricity of the Spanish Energy Mix It had a wind origin; 20%, nuclear; 17%, photovoltaic solar; 13.6%, combined cycle; 13.3%, hydraulic; and the rest proceeded from the burning of coal or other renewable sources. The electricity grid has a complex structure with several critical points To understand how electrical energy is generated and how the infrastructure that is responsible for transporting it to our homes and companies works, we need to investigate the structure of the network. The first link in the chain, as we can intuit, are the centers for the generation of electricity. As we have just seen, the Spanish energy mix is ​​mainly held on wind farms, nuclear centralsphotovoltaic solar facilities, combined cycle plants and hydraulic plants. Once it has been generated in the production centers, electricity is distributed throughout the Spanish territory through A high voltage network which has 44,000 km of 220 kV and 400 kV lines. However, close to both the facilities in which electricity is generated and the places where it is consumed Electrical substations are found. These nodes of the network are responsible for transforming the voltage with the purpose that electricity can be transported with the minimal possible energy loss. This is the reason why the substations that are close to generation plants raise high voltage energy (from 200 to 400 kV). Electricity is distributed throughout the Spanish territory through a high voltage network that has 44,000 km of 220 kV and 400 kV lines Once electricity is close to the points where intermediate substations will be consumed are responsible for reducing the voltage to 132 kV. Red Eléctrica de España is responsible for the administration of high voltage infrastructure, while medium and low voltage networks (15 to 30 kV) are managed by Endesa, Naturgy, Iberdrola and other energy companies. We already have a quite accurate idea about how the electricity grid is carrying electricity to our homes, but we have overlooked very important nodes: the electrical control centers. These facilities are part of the infrastructure administered by Red Eléctrica de España. They are responsible for supervising in real time the operation of the entire network to identify anomalies and prevent possible malfunction. These nodes are precisely those that are in all likelihood have a leading role in the resolution of the total blackout that we have suffered just a few hours ago. However, we still need to investigate more links more than one infrastructure that, as we are checking, is complex. On the one hand, the Spanish electricity grid is connected to the electrical infrastructure of three countries: France, through four connections with a capacity of 2,800 MW; Portugal, with several links that add up to 3,300 MW; And finally, Morocco, through a single underwater cable of 700 MW. The cooperation of France and Morocco has been crucial when restarting the Spanish electrical infrastructure. To conclude, we cannot ignore the last link in the chain: the urban transformers that we can all see in our locations and neighborhoods. They are responsible for reducing the voltage to a level that can be used by the appliances and the devices we have at home (230 volts). These are the weak points of the Spanish Electric Red We already know with some precision what the structure of the electricity network is and what role each of its nodes has, so we can understand effortlessly what makes it vulnerable. One of its most obvious weak points is The regional imbalance which occurs between excess generation in southern Spain and the high demand of the center and the northern peninsular. The facilities of Andalusia and Extremadura produce a lot of electricity, but the greatest demand does not come from these autonomous communities; It resides in Madrid, Catalonia and other communities of the North Spanish. This imbalance submits the network to an effort that requires the implementation of reinforcements that are not always available. The average and low voltage network is touching saturation in many areas In addition, the average and low voltage network is touching saturation in many areas. This simply means that the demand for electricity at some points is greater than the service capacity that is available in those areas. This causes that there are currently several thousand generation megawatts that have been requested and They cannot be delivered Because the network has reached its maximum electricity transport capacity. If we also take into account that some parts of the transport network are old and have supported for many years a great effort it is reasonable to conclude that it is necessary to reinforce them and carry out effective maintenance. Whatever this is not all. Renewable sources have more and more weight In the energy mix, while fossil origin does not stop losing relevance. There is no doubt that it is good news on the way to An energy model free of pollutant emissions in which we have embarked, but poses a challenge: the control centers that we have spoken some lines above must be able to sustain the stability of frequency and tension. It is possible, in fact, that this is the origin of the collapse that we have lived a few hours … Read more

The main tips to be prepared

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Let’s give you a few tips on How to prepare for possible blackoutswith some things that we recommend you at home and remember. Our idea is not only focusing on international catastrophic blackouts, but also being prepared for those premises that can ever occur. Therefore, we are going to give you a small list with The most essential ideas and advice For these cases. Thus, in the event that you have a blackout you can have resources to be without electricity for several hours without this being an excessive problem. Have prepared lighting The blackouts can arrive at any time. If the lighting arrives during the day, it is not a problem, but if it happens during the night it will be necessary to have something in a drawer to see. They can be candles, but too An LED flashlight Help you in key moments. The lifelong wax candles are always useful and appealed, and some always have some in a drawer. Also matches or a lighter. As for the flashlight, to be LED to consume less, and if you go to batteries you have some new prepared. But the best is A flashlight with dynamoof those that have a crank with which to load them. It is a little more tedious to use them, but you don’t need batteries, and they are a very good long -term alternative not to depend on them. Have some external battery loaded Something that can save you a lot if a blackout lasts several hours is have an external battery at home. This will help to keep your mobile loaded, and to be able to use it to inform you or to entertain you while the light is restored. Ideally, it would be at least 5,000 mAh to have a little more than a mobile load, but ideally you should have some of 10,000 mAh. If you have several ports, better, although the essential thing is that you have USB-C. Yes, make sure Always have this battery chargedbecause if when a blackout happens you realize that you did not load it again the last time you used it on a hiking or festival, it will be as if you did not have it. You can also look at the loading power, as they can be 22.5W, 40W, and many things. These amounts what they measure is the power, and the greater the faster you can load the mobile. To choose from look at the load characteristics of your mobile, they are measured in the same way, and then look for a battery that equals them. You also need the USB-C cable to support those powers so that you do not make fun and you can take advantage of it. Have a fm radio batteries When you have an electric blackout at home, your wifi leaves. And if for some reason the mobile connectivity network of your operator fails, then you will stop having access to the Internet. We have already learned that this can happen and last hours, and in these cases it is very difficult to access information from what happens. Therefore, it is convenient that you have A FM Radio Pilas by housesomething analog and “lifelong.” In these cases in which you have neither electricity nor the Internet, it will be a good means to access the stations where they are informing what happens, or simply to entertain yourself with the programming. Have canned food that does not need to cook Something that should not be missing in your pantry is to have some food cans that do not need to cook. When they are in can, they will have a long duration and they will not expire in the short and medium term, so you can have them there for any emergency that may arise. Because you can have food in the fridge, but it is not advisable to be opening it so that the cold does not go and your food does not spoil, and if your kitchen is electric will stop working. Therefore, a canned meal that is already cooked and does not need preparation is a very valuable resource This also applies to all kinds of Non -perishable foodfrom rice and preserves that we have mentioned with nuts or energy bars. Also have A manual opening to open them. If you are a campist, that gas campsite may come well at home or in a localized storage room you can access. Keep your laptops loaded If you have laptops at homeit is advisable to always keep them with a good load. Because if you leave the light but you have the Internet and want to continue working or navigate online, nothing is more frustrating than lighting your old laptop and seeing that it is decarced. Therefore, every month or a few weeks review it, keep it updated and make sure have it well loaded and turn it off correctly when you stop using it to keep the maximum battery. Have bottled water Other tips we can give you are Have bottled water at homeand if you have no low to buy it. If your neighborhood community sends water to the houses with an electric pump and there is a cut throughout the building, you may be left without water, and have to drink and do other things is important. Other tips to be taken into account In addition to what we have told you, remember to have A first aid kit at home In case you have any accident. It is also necessary to have elementary medications for mnos one or two weeks, toilet paper, menstrual products, soap, disinfectant or alcohol. Always keep the tank of your car half full to start it and use it to load devices if necessary, an important contact list, and disconnect electronic devices before the light returns to prevent a voltage peak from damaging them. In Xataka Basics | Light has gone in almost all of Spain: what to do … Read more

A “generation” disconnection, not a cyber attack

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He blackout that occurred yesterday In Spain and Portugal He raised his alarms and from the beginning The theory that could be due to a cyber attack arose. The possibilities that it was so were not too high in view of previous events, and now from Red Electric they have discounted such an option. It has not been a cyber attack. As indicated In the countryEduardo Prieto, director of the Electricity Service, has indicated in a video intervention that “we have been able to conclude that there has been no intrusion in the electricity control systems that could have caused the incident.” Almost discarded possibility completely. In his press appearance, Prieto has indicated according to El País that “with the preliminary information available” that option is ruled out. Organizations such as INCIBE or CCN had investigated the incident and have been mentioned by this person in charge of Electricity, which makes the possibility of a cyber attack. Pedro Sánchez points to another possibility. The chief of the Executive has indicated that Red Electrica has ruled out it in his transport network and stressed that “that is very good”, but also stressed that there are more data to study and that they will demand responsibilities to private operators. The option that the intrusion occurred in third parties is therefore completely eliminated. The National Court investigates the cyber attack option. The judge of the National Court José Luis Calama has opened an investigation to verify if the blackout could be an act of computer sabotage, They point out media such as the world. Neither human failure nor meteorological phenomenon. This manager also pointed out that options such as a human error or some Atmospheric phenomenon or strange meteorological, something that also Ratified Aemet this morning. “Generation disconnection”. From Red Eléctrica, two episodes of “generation disconnection” are aimed, quite possibly in reference to the Solar energy generation. The event caused In just five seconds, 60% of all energy in Spain vanished. What happens to that disconnection. The EU had already ruled out. In the early hours of the blackout, the theory that the blackout could have occurred after a cyber attack was handled. Spain is receiving numerous intrusion attempts in its critical infrastructure, but Teresa Ribera, of the EU, soon pointed out that “there is nothing that allows us to affirm that there is some kind of boycott or cyber attack.” Image | Dmitrii E. In Xataka | What is the “energy zero” and why the supply can go suddenly but it takes hours to recover

The role of renewables

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A blackout never seen It affected on Monday throughout Spain and Portugal, causing uncertainty about the reliability of the electrical system. The incident occurred just after several historical days in which the demand for energy It had been covered in its entirety by renewable sources. This situation has opened a debate on whether the lack of electric synchrony could be one of the causes. We go in parts. First of all, synchrony in an electrical system means that all generators that produce electricity (hydroelectric, thermal, nuclear centrals …) revolve at the same frequency (50Hz), keeping the supply stable. These traditional technologies help maintain network stability thanks to their large rotary masses, which act as “shock absorbers” to sudden changes in demand or generation. On the contrary, renewable sources such as solar or wind generate electricity in another way: they do not revolve at the frequency of the network by mechanical masses. They connect to the system through Electronic deviceswhich means that they do not provide natural rotational inertia and, therefore, They do not stabilize the frequency in the same way. Opening of the debate. Bloomberg Javier Blas columnist He explained that the blackout can be related to a network dominated by renewable generation at that time. However, his statement was quickly nuanced by other specialists, such as engineer Sergio Fernández Munguía, who has shared An image of the structure of the generation before the blackout. In it, the data has shown that 30% of the generation came from non -renewable sources. For his part, the expert in renewables, Xavier Cugat, He has highlighted That at that time there were 6,604 MW of large -scale large -scale generation, between nuclear, thermoso and cogeneration, ensuring that the system still had an important support of synchronous generation. In any case, the hypothesis about the lack of synchrony remains only that: a hypothesis, such as has pointed out The engineer Jorge Morales de Labra in RTVE News: “It will have been determining exactly what has failed.” Although at this last moment, the Spanish electricity network has communicated at a press conference That after a preliminary analysis the blackout has been attributed to a massive power disconnection to the Spanish electrical system in the southwest of the country, presumably of renewable energy, and has ruled out cyber attack as a cause. Synchrony so important. This is a very technical debate, such as He explained The professor associated with the Technical University of Denmark, Marta Victoria, when the balance between generation and demand is broken, the frequency of the network begins to deviate. If generators cannot react on time – because there is less mechanical inertia – the system fails to stabilize, and a waterfall disconnection occurs. The expert used a simple metaphor: “It is like a ship that leans to the side and, instead of straightening, turns.” Finally, Marta Victoria has detailed that during the blackout several generators, both solar and nuclear, were automatically disconnected from frequency oscillations. This aggravated instability and ended up causing the mass blackout. Something that is missing. For his part, the professor and researcher at Rey Juan Carlos University, Eloy Sanz He recalled That the lack of rotational mass in the system can make it harder to correct rapid imbalances between generation and demand. In its analysis, it stressed that failure events in critical infrastructure or sudden disconnections can aggravate instability, especially when the system depends largely on sources that They do not provide synchrony. In short, both agree that understanding the lack of synchrony as a vulnerability factor is important to understand the fragility that the system showed, although it cannot be affirmed that it has been the only cause. Progressive accumulated generation and storage structure at 11:00 am Right now the network. At 11:00 in the morning of April 29, about to meet 24 hours from the blackout, the Spanish electricity grid presents a stable situation. The demand is around 25,500 MW and is being mostly covered by photovoltaic solar energy (32%), hydraulics (18.7%), wind (17.7%) and combined cycle (22.2%). The system is operating with a balanced combination of synchronous technologies and not synchronous, indicating a complete technical recovery after the blackout of the previous day. Image | Pexels Xataka | The blackout has caused important smoke in several Spanish refineries: it is a sign that security systems have worked

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