Why half Spain still does not light at home, and will continue like this time

From 12.33 this Monday, A massive blackout seriously affect Spain and Portugal. In his appearance, Pedro Sánchez explained that what Spanish Electric Electricity technicians communicate is that “15 gigawatts (GW) of generation have suddenly lost, in just five seconds.” Something that, he said, “had never happened.” It is equivalent, it has mentioned, 60% of the country’s demand at that time. Nevertheless, The Government still does not explain the causes behind the trigger of the blackout.

In this sense, a Portuguese electric operator has indicated as the origin of the problem to an “induced atmospheric vibration”a strange phenomenon produced by extreme temperature variations inside the peninsula. In the absence of official confirmation, the possible consequence behind this would be A 0.15 Hz drop on the electrical frequencythat Normally on the European network it is fixed at 50 Hzas we can see in Grid radar.

And, while in Spain Red Electrica estimated to recover the service “between 6 and 10 hours”, the Portuguese operator was more pessimistic, stating that “recovering normality could take up to a week.” At 22:30, 10 hours after the blackout, Red Electrica has announced that it has recovered 48.2% of the estimated demand for this time.

Let’s see what is behind the “black start” or “autogenous start”, the process of restarting the electrical system, so complicated so that the deadlines can be extended so much.

“It has to be done slowly”

As Red Electrica explained in one of the first communications, we are facing an “exceptional and extraordinary” event that had never happened. Something like this is not common in the world, like Simon Gallagher explainsEnglish electrical engineer with 20 years in the electrical networks sector: “I do not think that a re -energyization of such a large network with such a high penetration of solar energy (PV) has never been made before.”

To this is the electrical analyst John Kemp, who He pointed out that:

“No one has ever tried a black start in a network as dependent on renewables as Iberia. The limited number of thermal generators will make it difficult to restore speed and frequency control.”

And there is an added difficulty. Although we should be prepared for what the weather events can bring, Gallagher points out that Most emergency plans are elaborated by raising situations where gas or coal plants are the protagonistsand without the relevance of renewables in our network.

Gallagher commented in the context of acquaintances that they are writing surprised by how long it takes to return normality to electrical infrastructure. According to this engineer, The slow recovery makes all the meaningbecause there are many critical factors to handle in the resolution.

First, you have to operate with great care, spending a lot of time identifying which parts of the system are as they should: which are turned off, which ones lit, what damaged equipment, etc. And it is a process that must be done manually.

Islands. The second key is that You have to reactivate the system little by little, in stages. The re -energization process requires controlling that each part that adds to the system works correctly. And that, despite what can be thought of in full 2025, often requires that engineers physically move to the substations to do something as simple as closing or opening a switch manually.

When starting, you have to gradually reactivate the different areas of the country as if they were “islands”, that is, small networks isolated from each other. In the case of Spain, Red Eléctrica has some of these islands are the axes Aragon-Cataluña, Galicia-León or Duero-France.

If they connect a lot very fast, These islands can saturate the generators and fall. The process, Gallagher explains, is complicated coming from a general blackout, because the load for the generators will be huge by being turned off.

For the islands to integrate with others, they must be synchronized with each other, establishing that they work at the same frequency and voltage. This, again, requires extreme care and is expensive in time.

Related to this is the speed at which the energy must be introduced to the network, then If very fast, the electrical system can be destabilized again (A sudden variation in frequency is what would have produced the first fall) altering negatively the 50 Hz to which the network must operate normally.

The Iberian case is peculiar. A problem that Gallagher points out of our system is that solar energy does not inertia, in the sense that it does not help stabilize the frequency, indispensable requirement, or to start nets that are disconnected. We must then resort to alternatives such as gas and coal centrals, which have to start without help from others, and that is a slow and expensive process in resources.

Another added problem, and that lengthens recovery is that The batteries of the substations, which are doing their job from the blackout, begin to run out. That means that, as we said before, they cannot be energized remotely, and it is problematic even if physical displacements occur to them, because base energy is needed for protection systems to work.

How is the “Black Start in Spain”

From the beginning of the problem, Spain has worked to work with the authorities of France and Moroccowho have collaborated to help re -Energify the areas of the south and north of the Iberian Peninsula.

According to Red Eléctrica, together with this foreign aid, Spain has had a group of hydroelectric plants with the ability to start autonomously, without help from others, as we explained before. In doing so, they have begun to be coupled to the network, growing the aforementioned islands. At this time, according to the company, and According to the worldthere are no islands left. “

Image | Alexandru Boicu In Unspash

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