Millions of Europeans were left without electricity this Monday, April 28th. A power outage caused by problems with the European electricity grid has mainly affected Spain and Portugal, according to Euronews.
Official sources confirmed that the two Iberian countries suffered a national interruption. Several airports were paralyzed across the region, including Madrid’s Barajas international airport, which had electricity and telecommunications issues. The Madrid Open tennis tournament has been interrupted after a power outage interrupted the broadcast and the tournament’s top scorers.
Power was cut off abruptly at around 12:30 pm. Although hospitals in both countries are equipped with generators, officials said staff were asked to turn off computers and take other steps to conserve power because it was unclear how long the outage could last. Spanish authorities have urged residents not to call emergency services for information, warning that call centers were already overwhelmed with calls.
“A crisis committee has been set up to manage the situation. At this point, there is still no evidence as to the cause of the massive blackout. A cyber attack has not been ruled out and investigations are ongoing,” said an official briefed on the situation in Spain.
In addition to Portugal and Spain, Andorra and parts of France that border Spain were also affected by the blackout. Belgium has also reported power outages, according to the latest information.
The cause is still unclear, but national authorities indicate that a problem with the European electricity grid occurred. Another possibility is a fire in southwestern France, Mont Alaric, which damaged a power line between Perpignan and eastern Narbonne. In 2003, all of Italy was left without power after a power line in Switzerland was damaged by a tree.
According to Politico, Portuguese power grid operators E-Redes added that data collected after the blackout suggested a voltage imbalance was responsible for the collapse.
Spain and Portugal have a highly integrated energy grid that operates as an energy island and is connected to the rest of Europe through a small number of cross-border interconnections with France.
The European Commission has been advocating for years for greater integration of countries’ energy systems, but although Madrid, Lisbon and Paris have repeatedly expressed their willingness to move forward with such a plan, progress has been slow.
