Spanish Power Plants Complied with Grid Operator During Blackout, Says Utilities Lobby

Spanish power utilities lobby Aelec claims that power plants complied with orders from national grid operator REE during the massive blackout on April 28. A government report found that REE's failure to calculate the correct energy mix hindered the grid's ability to cope with the outage. Aelec denies responsibility for the blackout.

MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish power utilities lobby, Aelec, has stated that the power plants in the country complied with orders from the national grid operator, REE, during the massive blackout that affected Spain and Portugal on April 28. Aelec's assertion comes in response to a government report that identified REE's failure to calculate the correct energy mix as a contributing factor to the grid's inability to cope with the outage [1].

The government report concluded that REE's miscalculation was one of several factors that hindered the grid's ability to manage the power outage. Additionally, the report found that some conventional power plants, including nuclear and gas-fired plants, failed to maintain an appropriate voltage level, exacerbating the situation [2].

Aelec, which represents major electricity companies such as Iberdrola and Endesa, has declined to comment on the specific allegations. However, the lobby group maintains that the power plants followed the directives issued by REE. REE, which is partly state-owned, has also not provided immediate comment on the matter.

The blackout caused significant disruption across the Iberian Peninsula, with widespread gridlock and thousands of people stranded on trains and in elevators. The government has since announced plans to strengthen the grid and improve its voltage control capabilities, as well as to further integrate the Peninsula with the European grid [2].

Pratheeksha Ramdas, a Senior New Energies Analyst and Iberia power market expert at Rystad Energy, noted that the incident highlighted the critical role of thermal power plants, particularly gas-fired plants, in maintaining grid stability. Ramdas emphasized that the blackout was not due to a lack of installed capacity but rather to mismanagement of available energy resources and accountability in grid operations [2].

References:
[1] https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/REDEIA-CORPORACION-S-A-29688106/news/Spanish-utilities-lobby-says-power-plants-complied-with-grid-operator-during-blackout-50306643/
[2] https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Miscalculation-by-Spanish-power-grid-operator-REE-contributed-to-massive-blackout-report-finds-50261871/