The great blackout in Spain: the fall is unlikely, but it would take weeks to recover

• GUILLERMO DEL PALACIO

Updated Friday, October 29, 2021-02: 00

• Share on Facebook

• Share on Twitter

• Send by email

Comment

Austria has put on the European table an apocalyptic scenario: that of a 'great blackout' in which the country's energy system would collapse and this would drag those of other neighboring nations. In recent days,

, in Spain there is talk of this possibility of losing power on a global level. Although experts do not consider it to be a real risk, they do warn of the difficulty of reactivating the service, a process that could take even weeks.

Austrian Defense Minister

was the one who brought attention to the problem - "a realistic and at the same time underestimated risk" - in an Instagram post. The country's army carried out some maneuvers, which Tanner attended, to prepare for this eventuality. Austria also urges its citizens to get supplies such as candles, blankets or non-perishable canned food to cope with this scenario.

"Throwing that message seems too sensationalist and a bit irresponsible," laments Roberto Gómez, professor of Business at the European University of Valencia and an expert in energy supply. "In the case of Spain, a blackout of this type is unlikely," he reassures. Of course, if it happened "it would be a very big problem": "We are not only in the dark at home, it is that absolutely the entire economy stops." Also, it would not be as simple as raising the fuses again; "It

." Nuclear power plants, for example, take days to shut down in an emergency situation to avoid generating too much heat, and getting them back online also takes time. "The reconnection would be very laborious and expensive," sums up the expert.

In any case, Gómez has no doubt that the regulator of the electrical system, Red Eléctrica Española, "will be on guard" so that the tools provided to avoid a possible blackout do not fail.

One of the first insurances that could be used to cushion a peak in demand are interruptibility contracts: there are consumers who pay for energy at a lower price or receive compensation in exchange for being the first to have their access cut off in a time when the system is stressed.

"Great demand for energy", summarizes Gómez, such as

that "have committed to sacrificing themselves so that the network does not fall".

See this post on Instagram

In addition, contingency plans could also contemplate

, which is on the bench waiting to be permanently withdrawn, but could return to the field of play in an emergency and provide "about five gigawatts" of energy.

In his opinion, it does not make sense to make citizens think that they have to supply themselves "as if they were Rambo", but rather that they should have chosen to better convey the idea that concrete measures, such as power outages, may be necessary.

Because the system, says the expert, is robust and will not fall: "Sending citizens to look for stoves and batteries is like saying that the ship is going to sink and we have jumped."

"We are in a situation of great nervousness because there are many sectors that are unbalanced", contextualizes Gómez. Overall, the system appears "very robust," he notes, but small variations produce "big disruptions." Thus, we see transport or supply problems - not only gas - which, in many cases, are a consequence of the economic recovery after the pandemic.

In the energy context, the problem is that electricity is an energy vector. In other words, it

, whether renewable (such as the sun) or fossils (such as gas). It reaches Spain mainly through two Algerian gas pipelines, GME (via Morocco, entering through Tarifa) and Medgaz (via Algeria itself, entering through Almería). The first

due to conflicts between the two African countries. Renewables are inexhaustible, but they depend on their availability -it is impossible to generate photovoltaic at night or wind without wind- and in times of scarcity you have to pull fuel (of which, in any case, by law there are reserves to cover up to 20 days of supply). And when there is not enough capacity to cover the demand, the blackout comes.

It is, the professor compares, as if the electrical system were a car that arrives loaded and without power on an uphill slope, which is demand.

If he begins to drown, we will have to downshift and release ballast so that he does not stall.

A small sectoral blackout that avoids a large global blackout.

An island

However, Spain has an advantage:

.

"Spain is in a better position than the rest of the European countries in the face of a great blackout," says Gómez.

This makes it more difficult that if a country on the continent falls, it becomes a domino that drags ours.

The network is very meshed, something that provides stability and codependency, but only up to the Pyrenees.

"We have a connection that provides 3 or 5%, in the best of cases, of the energy that Spain needs for France", explains the expert.

That 95% of our own production makes us used to "not having external support" and "generating or importing fuels to be able to produce electricity."

Thus, through the mountain range only a few gigawatts enter the national system and "it is relatively easy to remove three dominoes so that it falls in Europe and does not drag us down."

"Our system, which has been a problem because we have had to cover the needs with our resources, can be a blessing," acknowledges the professor.

Contingency plan

But what if it happened?

Vox has already asked the Government if the Department of National Security will include one of these blackouts as a risk that, Defense sources point out, are not currently included in the action plans.

There are, of course, "generic action plans in support of the authorities and the protection of critical infrastructures".

In the case of one of these events, the Department of Homeland Security would be in command of the situation "with the support of various departments."

In the first place, Interior, but also Defense "in secondary matters of control and protection of critical infrastructures and in general logistical support."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Spain

• Austria

• Europe

• France

• Algeria

• Morocco

• economy

• HBPR

Brexit By truck from Spain to the United Kingdom:? At each stop they offer me a job?

Central and northern Europe face a common front against Spanish pressure on electricity prices

EnergySpain loses its first gas pipeline in the middle of the gas crisis and is at the expense of Algeria's "guarantees"

See links of interest

• La Palma volcano

• Last News

• Holidays 2021

• 2022 business calendar

• Home THE WORLD TODAY

• Podcast Economia

• How to do

• Celta de Vigo - Real Sociedad

• Granada CF - Getafe

• Olympiacos Piraeus - Fenerbahce Istanbul

• Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv - Barça

• Olimpia Milan - Red Star