Spanish eclipse drags in the evening as power slowly returns

(Bloomberg) – The worst eclipse that hit Europe in more than a decade went on a large part of Spain and Portugal on Monday night, even though the Spain’s network gradually restored the country’s power. By 9pm, there was 18.3 gigawatts of the demand for the power grid, about three -quarters the amount seen just before the eclipse occurred at about 12:30 a.m., according to the data from the grid operator Red Electrica. An hour earlier, the operator reported that almost 20% of the power source was restored in Spain. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez In a Monday night speech to the nation that came off the sudden eclipse that disrupted public transport, telephone services and airports, few words of sympathy offered. “We are aware of the relevance and tremendous impact of what is happening today, of the seriousness of people’s everyday lives, of economic losses for businesses, companies and industries, of the anxiety it causes in thousands of homes,” he said. The Ministry of Home Affairs in Spain also declared an emergency in five areas at the request of the regions. An eclipse on this scale is very unusual and comes at a time when the network systems of Europe are under increasing amounts of renewable energy. Although it is not yet clear what caused the issue, solar output is especially in Europe at this time of year. A solar boom means that power prices have become negative during the weekend in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The last time an eclipse of this scale took place in Europe was in 2006 when about 15 million households were affected. The interruption was caused by a frequency fall that originated in Germany and divided the region into three. It took two hours, while the exposition of Spain is already far further, with no clear ending in sight. Transmission masters must remain on a stable frequency to work smoothly and any deviations can damage equipment. If the frequency of the grid begins to change quickly, it causes so -called oscillations, which can cause chain reactions that eventually lead to an eclipse. This is what happened in Spain, but how the order was turned off remains uncertain. “We still do not have conclusive information about the causes of the cuts,” Sanchez said. “It’s better not to speculate. We will know what the causes are, we do not exclude any hypothesis. ‘ “At the moment, the investigation seems to indicate a technical/cable problem,” the European Union Agency for cyber security said in ‘NE post statement, but added that it was’ carefully monitored’ the situation and was in contact with the national and EU authorities. While some areas across Spain – including parts of Madrid – are gradually returning online in the afternoon, the recovery of all offer in the country will last until at least the evening, according to Red Electrica, a network operator. The event shows how fragile grids can be. If one transmission line fails, it can overload others, and ‘you have the effect’, ‘Artjoms Obusevs, senior researcher at the Zhaw School of Engineering in Switzerland. Most of Spain and Portugal lost power around noon. Data from Red Electrica showed the question of free fall shortly after noon in Madrid and dropped more than 10 Gigawatts – more than a third of the country’s total electricity use for the day. Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said his government was working with Spain to find out what the origin of the power outage is. In a position on social media, he said that his administration is working with the authorities to re -establish the supply of energy on Monday, with the priority given to the national health system, transport and other critical infrastructure. Spain may experience questions about its decision to disconnect its nuclear plants that currently contribute 20% of its power mixture. It also intends to close its last coal plant this year in favor of renewable energy with gas plants for backups. The stock market normally operated in both countries, with the IBEX35 pruning in Spain shortly after the eclipse hit before recovering, but there was disruption. The country’s antitrust watchdog CNMC delayed a meeting where a decision was made on BBVA SA’s bid to buy Banco de Sabadell SA, according to a agency spokesman. While Spain’s canary and Balearic islands were not affected, public transport, traffic lights and telephone services were mostly over the continent. In Madrid, office workers filled the financial district of the city, while ambulances chased Castellana Avenue, where traffic agents used speakers on cars to target vehicles and people. ATMs in the city center did not work, and Madrid’s most important airport warned that it was experiencing a great deal of delays. In an effort to speed up the recovery, Spain turns on gas plants and hydro plants. With such an extensive interruption, there is a careful process of getting things back on track, which is called a black start. Grid operators have plans for this that they hope to never use. At the time of the interruption, the vast majority of power was raised by solar energy. Sanchez called on Spaniards to save power and avoid unnecessary use. “Telecommunications are now in a critical moment,” Sanchez told the country in his speech. “We will go through critical hours until we fully recover electricity so we have to make short phone calls.” -With help from Rachel Morison, Thomas Gualtieri, Laura Millan, Clara Hernanz Lizarraga, Ryan Gallagher and William Mathis. (Add the timeframe in the first, the National Grid Operator’s Grid Status Update in Second, Emergency in Five Regions in the Fifth Paragraph) More stories like this are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP