On April 28, a collaborative international research endeavor saw a catastrophic power outage submerge much of Spain, Portugal and the south of France. Millions were left in the dark for upwards of 70 hours. The blackout left nearly 3,000 Amtrak and transit train riders stranded. Hundreds of thousands of them lost access to phones, internet connectivity, and cash from ATMs. Spanish authorities have opened more than 30 investigations. Their goal is to get to the bottom of what has caused this extraordinary occurrence during the massive upheaval.
The residential outage began just after noon, leaving residents in a tailspin of both immediate and long-term needs. Roseanna, who lives in Málaga, shared her story from the blackout with us. She only had €40 ($45.16) on hand at the moment and described the effects of the outage on her daily life.
“We’ve gone all digital but the system’s ruined if there’s no electricity.” – Roseanna, a resident of Málaga
According to reports, the fallout from the outage is one of Europe’s worst within living memory. The reliability of our entire nation’s power grid was suddenly in question. This led to a blame game over the role of renewable energy sources. Dan Jorgensen, the European Union energy chief, had a different take on the recent outage. He claimed there was “nothing exceptional” about the energy mix providing power to the grid that day. He stressed that blaming the blackout on any one energy source, renewables included, would be improper.
“So, the causes of the blackout cannot be reduced to a specific source of energy, for instance renewables.” – Dan Jorgensen, EU energy chief
Lawmakers — and to a certain degree, authorities — are still sticking to the old sources of energy. They are looking into whether a cyberattack could have caused the blackout. The risks associated with cybersecurity threats create an even greater layer of complication to a bad enough picture, and yet here we are.
As officials continue their investigations, some industry stakeholders are urging authorities to focus on a longer term conversation about European energy security. Henrik Andersen, the CEO of Vestas, urged for decisive leadership to address the systemic causes of the outage. He said a solution will take “a high degree of statesmanship.” He emphasized that security with energy must mean that societies can function without them blacking out.
“First of all, energy security means that you can run societies without having blackouts. That’s stating the obvious.” – Henrik Andersen, CEO of Vestas
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright expressed his worries over Europe’s growing dependence on renewable energy. He cautioned that this reliance has the potential to pose dangers in dire circumstances. He noted the lost opportunities for people living in Spain and Portugal because of their energy policies.
“It’s very sad to see what’s happened to Portugal and Spain and so many people there, but you know, when you hitch your wagon to the weather, it’s just a risky endeavor.” – Chris Wright, U.S. Energy Secretary
The incident has sparked new debates over energy stability and the need to invest through infrastructure, outsize incidents notwithstanding. Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy, emphasized the difficulty in getting at these challenges. He stressed that it takes massive investments that include more than just renewable tech. He stressed the need to take a holistic view of the entire energy system and its stability when planning for future energy demands.
“What you do see is that when you build an energy system, you need to think about the generation… but you also need to think about how the overall system on the grid side is operating and how you stabilize that.” – Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy
Residents are still coming to terms with the impact of the blackout. Thousands more are reexamining how exclusively they depend on digital transactions. Roseanna noted the importance of cash during the blackout. With no access to ATMs or the ability to make card payments, people had to rely on hard cash.
“Obviously you can’t get money out and you can’t pay with card, so it’s certainly important to have a little bit of cash in your pocket at all times.” – Roseanna, a resident of Málaga