Spain blackout caused by poor management of excess energy
A report into the cause of the Iberian power cut in April found it was caused by a glut of solar power that was badly managed.
Plunging prices triggered a mass switch-off of solar farms which sent voltage and frequency fluctuations crashing across the national grids of Spain and Portugal. This was compounded by a lack of gas and nuclear plants turned on to balance the grid.
A Spanish government statement made no specific reference to solar power, saying the power failure was caused by an “overvoltage problem with a multifactorial origin”. Solar accounts for around 21% of Spain’s electricity generation.
“The system had insufficient voltage control capacity, fluctuations occurred that affected the system’s operation, and generating facilities were disconnected, in some cases in an apparently improper manner,” it stated.
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