light

The price of negative light is a problem. It is also the biggest opportunity to reindustrialize Spain in decades

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See the wholesale price of light to zero euros or even negative has ceased to be an anecdote for become a daily phenomenon In Spain. Symptom that renewables dominate the energy mix, is a growing obstacle to the profitability of electricity, but is still cheap energy. And as such, it is the best opportunity to reindustrialize Spain in a long time. Why it happens. “Zero or negative prices are a symptom of abundance of renewable resources to generate electricity,” analyst Pedro Cantuel, who works in Ignis’s energy management, explains to Xataka. In the central hours of the day, when photovoltaic production is massive, renewables flood the network with a practically null marginal cost, which collapses prices in the wholesale market. The time to reindustrialize. The abundance of cheap energy puts Spain in a competitive advantage position against its European neighbors. If Spain can offer clean energy to a very low cost, it becomes a magnet for industries that devour electricity, such as data centers, metallurgy or new green chemical industry. “In the European context, I think this can happen, since Spain could offer more competitive electricity than some of its neighbors,” explains Sergio Fernández Munguía, engineer of the renewable sector and author of Windletter. “In a global context, industrial electricity in Spain is still expensive because the invoice includes many other items beyond the cost of electricity.” Who has to adapt to who. The industrial model of the twentieth century was based on a premise: the energy was available 24/7 at a more or less stable cost. The renewables have broken this scheme: their production is intermittent. The traditional solution is to store that energy with batteries or pumping centrals, but the high cost of these facilities has dragged their deployment. Fernando Rodríguez, an industrial engineer of the energy sector, believes that the true revolution is not only to attract the usual industries, but to create those of tomorrow. The solution, according to Rodríguez, is that the industry adapts to energy until there is economic storage, and not vice versa: “The industry of the future will have to work with greater inventories, as was the case before the imposition of the imposition of the Just in time“ Flexible and modular manufacturing. The idea is to design industrial processes that can operate in full load when energy is almost free and reduce its activity or stop when it is expensive, without losing efficiency. It is already happening in adaptable industries such as recycling, large -scale 3D printing or desalination, which can program their consumption peaks for maximum solar generation hours. Concrete cases? In the United States, the Alcoa Warrick aluminum giant already adjusts its production to the available renewable generation. In Germany, the School of Engineers of Munich and Linde have designed an ammonia plant that works both 100% and 10% of its capacity, adapting to the production of Hydrogen Grandolytic. The industry will be where renewables are. Rodríguez believes that an industrial relocation will be necessary, and gives as an example the failure of the German “electric highways, a project to carry wind energy from the north to the industrial south that will end up costing more than 140,000 million euros. “Industrial companies must relocate near the new centers of gravity of electric production,” he explains. In Spain, this means taking factories to areas with more sun and wind, creating development poles in places that until now were not industrial foci. If energy is free, who will build the central? The cheap energy avalanche has an inevitable counterpart that puts the entire system at risk. If prices are zero, producers’ income are also. “Negative or zero prices discourage new investments,” confirms Sergio Fernández. “Especially in photovoltaic, those who are making numbers for new plants will see that their expected income in the market is lower than a few years ago and, therefore, also their profitability.” A nipe castle. This problem not only affects future renewable plants, but also the support that guarantees that we have light when there is no sun or wind: combined gas cycles. “As the price of the wholesale market falls,” says Fernando Rodríguez, “the growing opportunity cost will leave investments to generation, transport, distribution and marketing without investors and without financing.” The long -term danger is evident: a total break in the investment that leads us to an obsolete and unable to meet future demand. Without a robust system, there is no possible competitive economy. To take advantage of the industrial opportunity, Spain has to strengthen its nipe castle, and it is not enough to touch the prices artificially. The attack plan. The first bottleneck is the electricity bill. Although energy in the wholesale market is cheap, the invoice is still expensive. For Pedro Cantuel, the solution goes through a “drastic reduction in the final invoice eliminating taxes, bringing system charges to the general state budgets and reduce regulated costs.” The second problem is oversupply. How is demand increased? Cantuel proposes to “encourage electrification to replace the consumption of winter gas with electricity.” And at an industrial level, support great consumers “with the same mechanisms that our German or French competitors have, facilitating the connection of new demand to the network. Spain before its historical opportunity. A turning point that can allow the country to reindustrialize sustainably and become an energy power in Europe. But time runs, and it is essential to “create a national long -term plan that provides stability and certainty to the sector,” claims Cantuel, who defines as a priority “set clear rules for storage and new vectors, such as hydrogen.” The relationship between electric and the government is enquisted by the 7% tax on the generation. Consumers complain that the distribution toll “far exceeds real network costs.” Defining the rules of a competitive New Spain requires a country plan that puts all interested parties to row in the same direction. Without an ambitious and coordinated plan, today’s abundance could become the precariousness of tomorrow. In Xataka | The light price is … Read more

The light of the light has risen because of it

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May 2025 was on its way to becoming the cheapest month in the recent history of the Spanish electrical system. The combination of abundant renewables – hydraulics, wind and photovoltaic in full spring boom – pushed wholesale prices to minimal. According to the countryin one in three hours of the month, the price was even negative. Against all forecast, consumers have ended up paying more. A higher invoice. To avoid a collapse, a series of emergency mechanisms were activated: The so -called adjustment services. These are energy reserves that allow the network to balance at times of extreme mismatch between supply and demand. However, May’s bill is now reflecting that extra cost. It does not matter that the average market price was among the lowest of the year: these adjustment services fired the regulated part of the receipt, more expensive consumers paid, especially those welcomed by The regulated rate (PVPC). The data confirms it. According to data collected by The avant -gardethe Light receipt rose on 11% in May. A increase that anticipates that May’s bill will be even higher than June, although in June market prices are rebounding. This situation has put the marketers regulated against the strings. Some are supporting losses and alert that they cannot assume this type of mismatch without structural changes in the model. A realistic example. To understand it better we have made a simulation with the Official comparator of the CNMC For average domestic consumption (221 kWh per month) it shows that in May, the PVPC bill was 46.42 euros. However, in the free market, the cheapest rates began at 48.79 euros, and many exceeded 55 or even 70 euros. Most of the analyzed offers were fixed price rates, reviewable annually, suggesting that some marketers are already impacting additional costs due to the reinforcement of the electrical system after the April blackout. At the highest end, some invoices exceeded 80 euros: more than 70% more than PVPC, for exactly the same consumption profile. A problem that will follow. Red Electrica continues to operate with an extra safety margin after the blackout of April 28. This implies keeping backup centrals, even when they are not being used, which makes the system more expensive. But beyond the conjunctural moment, the incident has once again put on the table the structural deficiencies of the Spanish electrical system, such as the absence of distributed storage, the lack of micro -redes capable of temporarily disconnecting from the main system and a little capacity for local response to disturbances. Although the official report is still pending, everything points to a structural problem rather than punctual: a centralized system unable to contain waterfall failures. The April blackout was not just a scare. He has increased the invoice and has exposed the fragility of a system that needs more decentralization, more storage and a greater capacity for local response. Meanwhile, consumers are already paying the bill. Image | Pixabay Xataka | Saving the network after the blackout has had a side effect: more expensive light and marketers to the limit

more expensive light and marketers to the limit

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It has been a month since the great blackout that left the entire Iberian Peninsula. Since then, the national electrical system has been operating under a new extreme surveillance protocol: “reinforced operation.” Its goal is simple, but ambitious: avoid another total collapse. Its effect, however, begins to feel in the pocket of companies, marketers and consumers. Reinforced operation? Electricity and the Government have chosen to contain renewables and activate backup technologies such as gas, hydraulics or nuclear to gain stability. These sources, although more predictable, are also more expensive. But this operational turn has a price: renewable energy is being left out, cheaper, in favor of more expensive conventional technologies. As He has collected Five days, this new strategy has triggered the participation of traditional plants in the so -called adjustment markets or technical restrictions. So is there a contradiction? After the blackout, many pointed to the low inertia of the system, associated with the high penetration of renewables, such as the great culprit. However, like has collected this medium In an analysis by Matías Zavia, the peninsular electrical system counted in the moments before collapse with an “according to European recommendations” levels: 2.3 seconds, above the minimum threshold of 2. Both Minister Sara Aagesen and Secretary of State Joan Groizard have confirmed this data in parliamentary headquarters. The technical explanation that gains force points to a chain of failures: anomalous oscillations, Almost simultaneous generation surgeons and disconnections. It was at that critical moment, with the peninsula already isolated from France, when the low inertia aggravated the final fall. It was not the cause, but the collapse accelerator. In the absence of the official report, planned for the coming months, the blackout is emerging as a complex structural failure, not as a simple excess photovoltaic. The real problem: a shooting price. Since this reinforced operation was activated, the costs of the electrical system have shot. According to El Confidencialthe so -called restrictions techniques and Adjustment services – requirements necessary to maintain the stability of the network – have been remarkable. The problem is that these costs are initially assumed by marketers, especially the smallest and independent, which do not have their own generation capacity and have to buy this energy in markets managed by Red Electric. According to data the Independent Energy Marketers Association (ACIE), collected by the confidentialthe average cost of technical restrictions has gone from € 11/MWh in April to € 24/MWh in May, and at specific times it exceeds € 30. This pressure has led to several marketers, such as totalenergies, Moeve or Factorenergy, to send a letter to Red Eléctrica requesting clarity and a temporary forecast of these extraordinary measures. It has already been seen in the light bill. Starting with the almost 10 million consumers host of the regulated rate (PVPC) that have seen how their receipt At least four euros rose in May. And what began as an extra cost for companies, also begins to move to private clients and companies of the free market. In B2B contracts, some marketers have begun to introduce an “antiapagon rate”. As it picks up fiftiesthe client assumes up to € 12/MWh in adjustment costs, and what exceeds that figure is impact at the end of the month. In the case of households, where contracts cannot be modified easily, companies choose to raise the price of the megavatio in renewals or new offers. The dilemma is clear: raise prices or assume losses. A market to the limit. Independent marketers denounce that Red Electrica has increased costs without offering clarity on how they are calculated or until when they will be maintained. This uncertainty prevents planning and leaves those who do not have financial muscle to cover this volatility, According to El Confidencial. The pressure of the sector has also reached the institutional level. Acie, which brings together 20% of the market, has sent formal letters to Red Eléctrica and the Ministry for Ecological Transition asking for explanations and collaboration, such as He explained Fifodies. To date, they have not received a response, which increases the tension between the operators of the system and the most vulnerable actors in the electricity market. With an ignition system … The risk is not only a more expensive invoice, but a more concentrated and less competitive market. If independent marketers continue to carry costs without certainty or regulatory support, many will not survive. And if they disappear, consumers will have fewer options, more dependence on large electricity and less power to negotiate prices. The reinforced operation maintains the system on, yes. But it can also be extinguishing an essential part of the market: its diversity. With the technical report even on the horizon, what happens in the coming months will mark not only the stability of the network, but also who can continue to compete in it. Image | Pixabay Xataka | The more you know about the blackout in Spain, the less guilty the lack of inertia seems to be renewable

divide Spain into three price areas for light

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It has been a month since a mass blackout left millions without electricity on the peninsula. What caused it It is not yet clear. What has emerged again is an uncomfortable question for the electrical system: should you continue working with a single price zone? The current model. The blackout made it clear that the current model of a single price zone does not always conform to how electricity is generated, transported and consumed. Following this, proposals have sounded again They ask to review the price fixing system. Among them, a strength gains: divide the territory into several areas with differentiated prices, as already do other European countries. The Nord Pool case. One of the most cited examples, the electrical market of the Nordic and Baltic countries. This system divide its territory In offer areas (Bidding Zones), which may have different prices based on local generation availability, demand and capacity limitations in the transport network. In other words, if there is abundant renewable generation in an area (for example, in northern Norway) and very remote demand (for example, in southern Sweden), but the transport network between the two is congested, the price of electricity will be lower in the generating and higher area in the consumer. This difference pushes batteries where it is already consumed to improve the network where it collapses. According to Nord Pool’s own official siteprices are calculated every day depending on the balance of supply and demand in each area, taking into account the physical restrictions of the system. The result is a more realistic market, where prices are not artificially uniform and bottlenecks are directly reflected in the price. And is it possible in Spain? The proposal to divide in several areas has not been officially raised by the Government or by Red Electric (REE). Even so, the imbalance is evident: Much of the renewable generation is concentrated in rural areas of the southern and interior (such as Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha or Aragon), while consumption triggers mostly on the Mediterranean axis and in Madrid. This asymmetry generates bottlenecks, cost overruns and, as has been seen in the blackout, critical vulnerabilities. In fact, Spain could be pressed to change its model if these structural limitations persist. Besides, Ree report data On the electrical system they show that only in 2024, the cost of adjustment services – which include redisarking and other measures to balance the network – amounted to 2,668 million euros. These costs represented 15 % of the final average price of energy, with an impact of € 11.43/MWh. That is, they are invisible cost overruns for the consumer, but that could be reduced if the system offered more realistic and differentiated price signals. Future scenarios. The recent electrical crisis has only underlined a reality that many experts have not been warning: the Spanish electrical system, as designed, is not able to absorb renewable growth No structural adjustments. The question about whether we must move from a single price zone to a zonal model is not only technical, but deeply political and territorial. Faced with a model that artificially uniforms prices and hides network imbalances, a well -designed zoning could become a useful tool to direct investments, reduce system costs and increase their resilience. But it also raises a complex political challenge: how to explain to a community that its electricity will be more expensive than that of another region? How to guarantee that the transition is fair and that does not increase territorial inequalities? Image | Pexels Xataka | The more you know about the blackout in Spain, the less guilty the lack of inertia seems to be renewable

Spacex has been scratching his head for 11 weeks to relaunch Starship. Now he finally has green light to fly again

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After two consecutive explosions At the beginning of the year, Spacex has received permission from the US government for the ninth Starship test flight, which has just been announced for the night of Tuesday, May 27. The company has detailed the changes in the ship and the causes of the previous failure. To the third is the defeated? Starbase technicians have been working frantically to implement improvements in the prototype that will fly in the ninth proof mission of the Starship program. This attempt comes after two consecutive failures of a new version of the ship, known as Starship Block 2. Spacex has completed countless earth tests. After advancing in the investigation of the previous flight and with the authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in hand, everything is ready for the world’s largest rocket to surf the skies again. If there are no setbacks, the launch window will open on Tuesday, May 27 at 18:30, local time of Texas (01:30 in the morning of Wednesday 28 on Spanish peninsular hours). Problem solved. In the two previous flights, which took place in January and March, Starship had a premature and explosive ending: the upper stage engines went out ahead, the ship lost control and ended up disintegrating itself into the upper atmosphere, spreading their remains near the Bahamas and the Turkish Islands and Caicos. A hard blow for Spacex, which had requested permission for 25 Starship test flights per year. The January flight investigation, supervised by the FAA, determined that the flight failure had originated from a liquid oxygen escape and the consequent fire in the ship’s motor compartment, caused by more intense vibrations than expected. Although Spacex made adjustments for the March flight, the ship failed again, giving rise to endless rumors about a design error In Starship version 2, slightly higher and with a new fuel feed system. The findings of the investigation, newly publishedThey reveal that the second incident was not related to the first, and that the vibrations problem had been solved before flight 8. What failed on the flight. According to the March flight investigation, supervised by the FAA, the most likely cause of the loss of the ship was a hardware failure in one of its three central raptor engines. The ruling caused an accidental mixture and ignition, which caused an explosion. Immediately after the explosion, the other two central engines and a vacuum raptor engine went out, causing Starship to lose control again. Spacex believes that the flight termination system was activated after he lost communications with the ship, ensuring its disintegration. The improvements. Since the vibrations problem had already been solved with the implemented mitigations for flight 8, Spacex has now focused on the upper stage of the upper Starship stage, which have received reinforcements in key joints, a new system of nitrogen purge and improvements in the propellente drainage system. It is a temporary solution that will cease to be necessary after the introduction of the raptor 3 engine, which has a more minimalist design with the integration of several components and includes reliability improvements to address this type of failures. Anyway, the FAA takes for good changes in the Raptor 2, highlighting that Spacex “has satisfactorily approached the causes of the mishap of flight 8”. Tuning. A few days ago, the company successfully completed a long -lasting static ignition of the six starship 35 engines, the prototype that it will use in the ninth flight. This test has been an important stumbling block for flight 9 because the ship needed several attempts to complete it. In a first attempt in early May, one of the engines issued a strong flash and part of its material came out. After the successful ignition, the Ship 35 returned to production facilities for final preparations; Presumably, the load of Starlink satellites and touch -up models in their thermal shield. How will flight 9 be. The flight profile of the next week will be very similar to that of failed attempts, but with several important milestones. The super heavy rocket that will boost the ship, the booster 14, will be The first to be reused After its previous January flight, in which it rose to the edge of the space, separated from the Starship ship and returned to the launch platform to be trapped in the air through its mechanical arms. 29 of the 33 propeller engines are “second -hand”, although they were performed exhaustive inspections and only one -use components were replaced (such as the ablative thermal shield). Of course, this time it will not be recovered: the booster 14 will maneuver directly on the sea to Try a flight profile More risky, with a quick turn after the separation of stages, a more aggressive angle in the descent and a deliberately off motor in the spareness maneuver. As for the Starship 35. The ship, on the other hand, will reach more than 160 kilometers of altitude and will demonstrate for the first time the load deployment, launching eight Starlink simulators with its system inspired by the caramels dispensers of fish. An hour after takeoff, it will resent the Indian Ocean to perform controlled ametering. Beyond overcoming the above problems, one of the pending objectives is to prove the improved thermal shield of the Starship Block 2, which will be crucial to reuse the ship. The previous failures prevented the rocket from reaching the point where this shield comes into play: the reentry. Spacex has eliminated a significant number of thermal tiles to test vulnerable areas. On flight 9 will try new metal tiles (One of them with active refrigeration) and new capture accessories for future landings. The new alerons of the ship will also be tested during the reentry. The planes will be further this time. Despite the vote of confidence in Spacex, FAA has imposed some conditions, as the expansion of aerial exclusion zonesboth in the United States and in other countries. The danger zone for aircraft will be extended … Read more

Portugal has wanted to shield energy from Spain: the light bill has been the first to pay the price

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Spain and Portugal closed last year proclaiming themselves of the energy transition, since 82% of its electricity It came from clean sources. Within this energy harmony in which both countries were walking together, it seems that it has vanished after the blackout of April 28. Short. Still without An official explanation Clara of the causes of the mass blackout, both Spain and Portugal They have established a joint committee to investigate what happened. Meanwhile, Portugal has chosen to suspend electricity imports from Spain as a preventive measure, According to Financial Times. A fragmented energy island. The Iberian Peninsula is considered an “energy island” for its limited connections with Europe. For this reason, both countries have been forced to each other to balance their electrical systems. However, the blackout has evidenced the fragilities of this interdependence and has led Portugal to question the level of energy dependence it maintains with Spain. In Xataka If the question is "a country can hold only with renewable energy"the answer is here next: Portugal Immediate repercussions. Before the blackout, Portugal imported up to 35% of its electricity from Spain. This flow not only covered the Luso Energy Deficit, but also allowed the neighboring country to store the Spanish surplus in its hydroelectric plants, acting as water batteries, such as has detailed The Financial Times. However, the abrupt cut of that supply has left the country exposed to a much more expensive electric market. In data. According to OMIEwholesale electricity prices in Spain fell up to € 10.24/MWh, while in Portugal they shot € 47.92/MWh. This price difference has put in trouble to Portuguese companies and consumers, especially those without long -term contracts that protect them from sudden rise in rates. There is a shy openness. On Thursday after the blackout, imports began to reopen again, but limited capacity has maintained high prices in Portugal. According to the RENthe Portuguese electricity operator has indicated that the import capacity will be limited to 1,000 megawatts per day until May 12, a figure that represents less than a fifth of the usual import volume. {“Videid”: “X88TF3K”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “Save on your light bill: the best options to know prices on your mobile”, “Tag”: “Webedia-prod”, “Duration”: “258”} Future implications. As He has collected The Financial Times, the Minister of Energy of Portugal, Maria Da Graça Carvalho, has pointed out a gradual restoration of imports from Spain. However, Armindo Monteiro, director of CIP, the main business group in Portugal, has warned that the country “does not live or should live in electrical isolation”, and has underlined the need to review the safety and dependence conditions in an uncertain energy context. Image | Pxhere Xataka | Spain has opted for the plot, but has left the network thrown: how micro -redes fit the energy puzzle (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news Portugal has wanted to shield energy from Spain: the light bill has been the first to pay the price It was originally posted in Xataka by Alba Otero .

A family revelation that sheds light on your personality and professional success

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Bill Gates has been one of the most influential in the field of technology of the last four decades. However, a revelation of his youngest daughter, Phoebe Gates, has put on the table a topic rarely addressed around the founder of Microsoft: his Relationship with the autistic spectrum. Phoebe Gates, the youngest of their three childrenintervened a few days ago in the podcast ‘Call Her Daddy‘Where he told how the millionaire faced his partners, taking into account Bill Gates Asperger’s syndrome. “For the boy, terrifying. For me, it was very hilarious because my father is quite socially clumsy. As he said before, he has Asperger. So, for me, he is very funny,” explained the 22 -year -old. Phoebe’s confirmation This family anecdote Not only humanizes Bill Gates, but also publicly confirms, and precisely, what the millionaire so far He had only hinted about his condition within the autistic spectrum. “Wow, there are some patterns coincidences (between their behavior and those of the autistic spectrum)” confirmed Gates. Bill Gates I had never talked openly to have Asperger’s syndrome, although in his autobiographical book ‘Code Source: My beginnings‘, recognized that “if I grew today, they would probably be diagnosed within the autistic spectrum. Gates explained during An interview To The Wall Street Journal that, during his childhood, there was no generalized understanding about neurodiversity, and that his parents did not have resources to understand why he became obsessed with certain projects or did not capture the social signals. The founder of Microsoft explained that the term “neurodivergente” It didn’t even exist as a childand that formal tests to diagnose autistic spectrum disorders were not introduced until the 80s, when he was already an adult. The impact of Asperger’s syndrome on Gates’ career He Asperger syndrome it’s a autistic spectrum disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction, very intense interests in specific issues and behavior patterns with an obsessive tendency. Although the term of Asperger has currently been absorbed by the general classification of the autistic spectrum disorders. It is estimated That about 1% of the world’s population is in the autistic spectrum, and the Asperger represents a significant part of these cases. Like Bill Gates, other recognized personalities have talked openly about their diagnosis. Elon Musk, for example, revealed in 2021 during Your monologuein ‘Saturday Night Live ‘ That has Asperger’s syndrome. This type of testimonies help to make visible neurological diversity and reduce social stigma, showing that people with Asperger can reach extraordinary achievements in different areas and does not incapacitate them to become the richest people in the world. Position that So much Bill Gates as Elon Musk have held. Various episodes of Bill Gates’ life can be better understood in the light of its possible diagnosis of Asperger. In An interview for Vanity Fairthe co -founder of Microsoft, Paul Alllen, explained that during his stage as a Microsoft leader, it was known for its lack of empathy towards employees who requested free time or vacations, even arriving at Monitor cars enrollment of the parking lot to control which employees were working. This attitude, although criticized, may be related to the difficulties in understanding the emotional needs of others, a common feature in the autistic spectrum. In addition, Gates showed difficulties to socialize During his university era. Steve Ballmer, who would later be CEO from Microsoft, had to insist for Gates will be related to other students. In his book, Gates acknowledged that, if not Ballmer, he would never have attended for himself the Fox Club de Harvard parties, “Tag parties, tight hands of secret hands and other archaic rules and rituals.” On the other hand, its ease for obsess and with other activities Like Buscaminaswhich came to play compulsively, also fits with the intense and repetitive interests that characterize Asperger’s syndrome. These aspects, far from being obstacles, have been a fundamental part of their professional success as and as slides The Times. In Xataka | We have found a new genetic “inheritance” of Neanderthals: in autistic spectrum disorders Image | Flickr (Billionaires Success)

These are the things I did during the blackout so as not to get bored, and what will I do if there is a light cut again

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Behind him Mass blackout That we suffered a few days ago, I could use the mobile because I had an Internet connection. But there came a time when it didn’t work, so I took the opportunity to perform some activities to avoid boredom until the electricity supply arrived again. I made some, and others will do them in the hypothetical case of having a light cut. Take the opportunity to read at the ereader I’m currently reading ‘THE WAY OF THE KINGS‘, the first novel that begins the Archive of Brandon Sanderson’s storms, but had taken the reading for a week. I took the opportunity to continue reading a few digital chapters, using the Kobo Clara 2E. This model is no longer sold, so if you want a similar one Kobo Clara Color has a price of 169 euros In Mediamarkt. In Amazon it is cheaper, but the shipment takes several months. A EREADER It can come very well for prolonged moments in which we are left without light, since in addition to being able to save many digital books They usually have a several weeks autonomy. * Some price may have changed from the last review Start Berserk Nor did he have too much battery in the ereader, I did not want to exhaust her completely in case the light took too long to return. So taking advantage of the first two volumes from ‘the first two volumesBerserk‘, I decided to start Kentaro Miura manga. The first ‘Berserk’ volume has a price of 16.10 euros In its edition of Maximum Berserk. The truth is that it is a reading that I had pending for a long time, but that I bought, as I commented, a week ago. It is not the most premium edition, but it is very good. * Some price may have changed from the last review Play one Taking advantage that my partner was at home and that in my city it was festive (there was nothing open), we decided to play for a while ONE. We do not have many board or card games, but precisely the Deluxe edition We bought it a while ago and so far we had not played. Deluxe Cuesta edition 17.95 eurosbut the basic edition is cheaper, since it is found by 9.97 euros. * Some price may have changed from the last review Play the Nintendo Switch Although I have been playing some time without playing Nintendo SwitchI have connected it to the dock, so when the light left, the battery had completely charged. I took the opportunity to play just over half an hour at ‘The Talos Principle‘. However, the Nintendo console can be a good source of entertainment, at least for a few hours. Nintendo Switch currently has a price of 275 euros. In addition, he had several Video games in cooperative Local that are compatible with the Joy-with individual (although I also have a separate command), so, despite not getting to play them, we had in mind that we could spend some time playing the games. Nintendo Switch (standard) * Some price may have changed from the last review A puzzle To take advantage, above all, the sunny hours, I will bring the puzzles that I left for a long time at my parents’ house. I always let time pass and in the end I never start to ride them, so in this type of situation it may be well to take that step. Although it is not especially cheap, this Puzzle of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ I find it interesting to buy it. It has 2,000 pieces, so it can take a good time (or days) finish it. Can be found in Amazon by 32.69 euros. Puzzle of the Lord of the Rings (2,000 pieces) * 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. Image | Xiaomi In Xataka | These are some of the best batteries to be informed when there are unexpected light blackouts In Xataka | Five external batteries or powerbanks to have the mobile loaded for hours after an electric blackout

Without light at home, many Spaniards turned to another “shelter” for hot dinner or load the mobile: their car

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Spain collapsed. In five seconds, The Government tells us60% of the electricity consumed at that time was lost and all kinds of electronic devices went black. Then we understood to what extent we depend on electrical energy. Without the possibility of plugging into the network, the batteries began to quote and, above all, they showed us the importance of having a Small electric survival kit. Because how can we load the mobile when we don’t have electricity? The question also resonated at a server’s house. First came the disappointment with the already known answer to the question “Didn’t you have some PowerBanks?” Then, a light bulb was lit: “We always have the car.” A shelter Luckily, we did not have to go down to the garage but use the car like a gigantic external battery would not have been a bad idea. In fact, it is not necessary to have an electric car although this technology allows us to even be more flexible. The USB shots From cars with combustion engines they generally serve us to plug small electrical devices and can get us out of trouble. Simply start the car and connect to one of its ports or take the lighter. In this case, the most basic and obvious option a situation like the one that We have lived in Spain on April 28, 2025 It is to load the mobile phone or an external battery that already helps us keep the electrical devices alive. Generally, cars’s USB shots are not especially powerful, so we will need to spend more time load the mobile phone that at home and surely we will have to forget the fast charge. As we will see, there are some exceptions to this. If your car is already a few years old, The normal thing is that you use a USB 1.0 or 2.0. This limits the load to 500 mA. With current phones, the load will be extremely slow or, simply, it will slow down your download if we are using the mobile phone at that time. If the car is more modern, it is easy for USB-C shots to deliver 5W of power onwards, which is more than enough to load a current mobile phone. Another solution if, as we said, the car is a few years on it is to use an adapter for the tambo. In this case, It has a voltage of 12 volts In direct current and its amperage is 10 A. The maximum power in this case usually reaches 120W so the maximum power to which we can load the car will depend on the adapter used. In stores like Amazon It is easy to find products for little money with up to 30W So we can load a relatively fast mobile phone or, if necessary, to a laptop if necessary. That is, it is not a bad idea to carry an adapter of these in the car. Not only is it a matter that in the case of a blackout we can load the phone, it is also interesting if, for example, we have suffered a breakdown and we have to wait for hours until we get an assistance. The possibilities multiply with an electric car. Currently, most of those sold in the market arrive with V2L (Vehicle to Load) technology, a standard of Bidirectional load that allows to load most of the electronic devices we have at home because, simply, it makes our car a domestic plug. Click on the image to go to the original tweet Click on the image to go to the original tweet To get an idea, the car becomes a huge battery with wheels that can provide us with electricity to 3.4 kW. That is, we can easily plug a microwave and, for example, dinner hot despite being in the middle of a blackout. Again, it is an interesting solution if we want to spend an night away from home and we want to make a timely use of a high consumption device like this. Keep in mind that a device such as A microwave can easily overcome 1 kW of power to function. Therefore, we could not start it without this type of V2L technology. Again, it is an interesting option without the need to face a blackout. If we want to spend an afternoon in the field and enjoy coffee after eating, A capsules coffee maker can be the solution. And more useful, we can Take advantage to have an inflatable mattress Wherever we go. The two previous cases are not isolated. Talking to other colleagues who have an electric car, some of them have confirmed that they took advantage of the car batteries to serve various home tools and, in fact, they regretted that in Spain the V2H technology (Vehicle to Home) or V2G (Vehicle To Grid) is not allowed. With the V2H technology You can pour the battery from an electric car to a house. Although in most cases the car itself reserves a minimum percentage that is usually at 20%, this bidirectional load could supply tens of kWh to a house, which can be used to maintain a house for several days. V2G technology allows even launching electricity accumulated in the car to the general electricity network and, therefore, electric cars could act as electric power stores that can be used in emergency cases. Photo | Hyundai In Xataka | Spanish Electric Electric

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

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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” Click to go to the publication. 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 In Xataka |

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