Apr 29, 2025
Spain and parts of Portugal and France on Monday were hit by a widespread power outage caused by a "rare atmospheric phenomenon," according to Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), Portugal's grid operator.
The Context
The power outage has brought public transport to a standstill, caused significant traffic jams and delayed flights.
The disruption has impacted millions of people, matches for the Madrid Open tennis tournament have been suspended, Portuguese banks and schools have closed and hospitals in Spain have been forced to run on generators.
What To Know
REN told Sky News on Monday that the outage was caused by a fault in the Spanish electricity grid, which was caused by a "rare atmospheric phenomenon."
REN said that as a result of extreme temperature variations in Spain, there were "anomalous oscillations" in extremely high-voltage lines. REN said this is known as "induced atmospheric variation," which in turn can lead to oscillations. This caused synchronization failures between systems, leading to successive disturbances across the European network, which is interconnected.
Given the complexity of the issue, it could take as long as a week for the network to return to normal.
E-Redes, which is the national energy supplier of Portugal, has also shared a statement on the blackout where they said the interruption was due to a problem in the European electricity grid.
Spain's electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica has said that "all resources" are being dedicated to solving the issue.
France was also impacted by the power outage. A spokesperson for France's electricity transmission operator RTE told CNN that they had experienced a "small power cut," and that electricity was "restored very quickly," adding that its main focus is now helping Spain to restore their power. READ MORE
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SOURCE: Newsweek