An abrupt loss in power generation that led to an unprecedented blackout across Spain and Portugal on April 28 began in Granada and was followed within seconds by failures at substations in Seville and Badajoz, Spain’s energy minister said on Wednesday.
Several investigations involving the government, security agencies and technical experts are looking into the power outage, but it is the first time Spanish authorities have pointed to specific areas as the origin of the events.
Energy Minister Sara Aagesen told a parliamentary hearing that the three initial incidents, whose cause has yet to be determined, had provoked a generation loss of 2.2 gigawatts of electricity, which triggered a series of grid disconnections.
Investigators have ruled out a cyberattack on the grid operator REE, an imbalance in supply and demand, or insufficient grid capacity as causes for the blackout, Aagesen said.
The inquiry will take time and there will likely be no simple answers to what appears to be a complex issue, she said.
“We are analysing millions of pieces of data,” Aagesen said. “We also continue to make progress in identifying where these generation losses occurred and we already know that they started in Granada, Badajoz and Seville.”