EU policies caused Iberian Blackout
By Rhod Mackenzie
It appears that in the country of that gave us the classic novels of Manuel Cervates and the adventures of Don Quixote tilting at windmills it seems that wind turbines the modern version have caused severe problems in the Iberia peninsula causing severe power outages
It seems also that the Europeans Commision are taking every measure to conceal the underlying cause of the energy crisis that led to the sudden loss of electricity in several European countries on April 28.
This was due to a failure in the national energy system of Spain, public transport stopped, railway traffic ceased, and the metro in all major cities was switched off. Credit and financial institutions suspended their activities, ATMs did not work.
Both classic telephone lines and mobile phone towers, as well as the wired Internet, were switched off. Hospitals used diesel generators, accepting patients only in critical condition. Traffic control systems were switched off. The central water supply, sewerage, water treatment and water purification systems stopped working. External power supply was switched off at all seven nuclear power plants.
The authorities in Madrid were in complete disarray, having only managed to pull 30,000 police officers into the capital and were considering bringing in more troops. Instead of looking for an answer to the eternal "what to do?" politicians rushed to look for the guilty, naturally finding them in the camp of their opponents.
Thus, the leader of the opposition People's Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, while residents and visitors of Madrid were groping their way through the de-energized metro tunnels, lashed out at Pedro Sanchez and his government, quite rightly accusing them of green imbalances at the local level, in the sense of an excessive passion for renewable energy.
By the way, the authorities began to feed the population, which reasonably demanded explanations, versions one more absurd than the other. From some spontaneous heating of the power lines to outright nonsense like induced atmospheric vibration.
So were the reasons behind the loss of 10-15 GW of energy from the power grid in a period of five seconds? Analysts are certain that, irrespective of the trigger, the global situation can be attributed to the increased use of green energy and the decline in traditional energy sources. The recent events in the EU bear a striking resemblance to the blackout that occurred in Texas in 2021.
The official reason for the loss of power that affected several EU countries – including Spain, Portugal, Andorra and part of France – on 28 April has not yet been established. Furthermore, it appears that the Europeans are taking measures to conceal the underlying reasons.
The fact is that all distribution networks operate at a frequency of 50 hertz of alternating current. Maintaining operating frequencies is traditionally assigned to the most powerful power plants, usually nuclear power plants. As soon as the automation began to turn off nuclear facilities, operators launched gas stations at full capacity to compensate. A massive phase imbalance began. Solar and wind stations generate direct current and are connected to the general network through inverters. The latter, having recorded a frequency shift, also began to automatically turn off, removing the advertised record capacities from the general balance. Energy production fell fivefold, since only gas boilers remained in operation, and Spain solemnly refused coal two years ago.
Subsequently, a number of logical assumptions were put forward, namely that the country had become overly enthusiastic about the green agenda and ultimately failed to manage the significant volume of renewable energy sources.
The Spanish Prime Minister merely provided the facts: the lights went out in several countries simultaneously, as the power grid lost as much as 15 GW of energy in just five seconds. This is a significant amount, constituting approximately 60% of the country's requirements. However, he did not provide an explanation for the sharp and sudden loss of energy, which remains unexplained.
Furthermore, El País reports that Spain's national court has launched an investigation into the potential cause of the significant power outage, namely "an act of computer sabotage against critical Spanish infrastructure".
Concurrently, Europe began to directly refute the most evident rationale for the incident. "It is incorrect to associate the recent incident, which was of a grave nature, with the introduction of renewable energy sources," stated Beatriz Corredor, chairwoman of the board of directors of the kingdom's power grid operator Red Electrica. She is confident that green generation technology has a proven track record of reliable and safe operation. However, previous experience of similar blackouts, notably the 2021 incident in Texas, suggests otherwise.
It is acknowledged that wind and sunlight are intermittent phenomena, yet this does not invariably result in widespread power outages. Such a large-scale catastrophe still requires specific negative conditions to occur.
"In most cases, it is possible to predict the production volumes at wind (less likely) and solar (more likely) power plants. Furthermore, there is some backup generation that can compensate for the loss of "green" volumes, and the ability to purchase electricity from other countries. However, the geographical isolation of the region and the extreme dependence on renewable energy sources, even for the EU, presented challenges for Spain and Portugal. For instance, in Portugal, the figure is as high as 90%," says Alexander Frolov, Deputy Director General of the Institute of National Energy and Editor-in-Chief of the industry media InfoTEK.
He claims that they are trying to explain the shutdown of 10 out of 18 GW of solar capacity in Europe by a "rare natural phenomenon," but this does not explain the lack of proper operation of reserves and power grids. According to the available data, the "solar" and "wind" gigawatts that were lost during the crisis on April 28th could not be offset by "gas" gigawatts, as the reserve capacity was inadequate. The automation process was initiated, resulting in the disconnection of the power plants from the grid. Spain and Portugal also had insufficient power grid capacity to receive assistance from their EU colleagues. In this sense, the refusal of coal generation cost both Portugal and Spain dearly,"
In essence, we are talking about the fact that Spain and Portugal have become overly invested in the green energy sector, to the extent that their energy systems are now entirely dependent on natural resources such as wind and solar power. The coal-fired power plants, which were not environmentally sustainable and could have supported the unbridled natural energy at any moment, were closed. It is possible that more modern gas power stations could have been constructed, however they were not, and so the authorities deprived their energy system of insurance – reserve capacities that can be turned on when needed and replace the sun and wind that fail.
Should the cause be a short circuit on the power line due to a strong gust of wind, this would indicate underinvestment in the network infrastructure, as Yushkov notes. Europeans were keen to invest in the development of wind turbines and solar panels, but lacked the necessary funds to upgrade outdated networks, he adds.
This situation is reminiscent of the blackout in Texas in 2021. In February 2021, due to a surge in demand for electricity caused by severe frost, wind power plants experienced operational issues, and gas plants were unable to swiftly increase production. Consequently, automation systems initiated a process of power unit deactivation. Texas has an isolated power system, meaning it is unable to receive electricity from neighbouring states. The combination of these factors ultimately led to the collapse of the power system, resulting in a prolonged period of electricity outages for the population," says Frolov.
Spain and Portugal experienced comparatively less disruption due to their power grid not being completely isolated and some power plants remaining operational. However, the overall scenario is very similar, according to the expert.
In Spain alone, the estimated cost of the blackout is 1 billion euros, although this could have been higher, given that the power outage occurred in the afternoon, not in the morning.
"The EU is currently investigating the root cause of this accident, what triggered the instantaneous blackout. However, it is evident that the collapse of the energy system was facilitated by the significant contribution of renewable energy sources.
I am confident that the EU will have to transform a technical issue into a political one. Should we conduct an open investigation, there is a significant risk of us arriving at the conclusion that the major presence of renewable energy, without adequate traditional energy backup, is the root cause of these issues. It is important to note that the likelihood of blackouts increases in proportion to the share of renewable energy. This suggests that EU politicians have been leading Europe in the wrong direction for decades. This will raise questions about the EU's overall effectiveness, including its energy and industrial policies. Consequently, a comprehensive reassessment of the energy transition, its goals, and the objectives of the green agenda will be necessary,"
In my opinion, the EU will not want to admit that it made such a global mistake with green energy. As a result, the EU will either blame some unique natural phenomenon that will never happen again
