A power cut affected millions of people across Portugal and Spain on Monday, disrupting communications services, hospitals and transport. Belgium is not impacted, according to grid operator Elia.
The cause of the issues is currently unclear. The possibility that the power cut was caused by a rare atmospheric phenomenon on the Spanish electricity grid circulated on multiple outlets on Monday. However, the Portuguese grid operator, REN, later told Portuguese media it did not know the cause.
The possibility of a cyberattack is also being investigated. No evidence of a cyberattack has so far been found, according to the Portuguese National Centre for Cybersecurity.
Problems were first reported at around 12:30 (Belgian time). Consumption fell by half in Spain within seconds.
Parts of France had also reported issues earlier on Monday. These have since been resolved, according to the Spanish news agency, Efe.
Power has been restored in several regions of Spain, however, it will take between six to 10 hours for the power cut to be fully resolved, according to Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica.
There is currently no official estimate for the full restoration of power in Portugal, according to REN. Power has been gradually restored in several regions of Portugal since Monday evening.
Disruptions
Airports across Spain and Portugal have reported some disruptions. No flights are taking off from Lisbon airport, according to an airport employee. At least one flight to Lisbon from Brussels Airport today has been cancelled and one delayed, according to the airport's website.
Several healthcare services have been affected by the outage, including pharmacies and hospitals. Multiple hospitals have switched to emergency generators. According to SIC Notícias, the Hospital Curry Cabral in Lisbon does not have sufficient generators. This could damage several vaccines.
Telecommunication services have also been disrupted throughout continental Portugal, local media reported.
The Portuguese emergency service has activated its contingency plan. In Spain, Madrid has activated level 2 of its local emergency plan, one level below the maximum.
Local public transport has also been impacted. According to Spanish national broadcaster RTVE, the railway service has been disrupted in the country. Several traffic lights in both countries have also stopped working. The metro service in Lisbon has closed.
Four nuclear power plants in Spain automatically shut down as a response to the power outage, according to the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN). They are now operating via backup diesel generators. No significant disruption has been experienced according to the CSN, although it has activated its emergency response team to monitor the situation.
No impact on Belgian grid
Belgium has not been affected by the power cut. "There is no impact on the Belgian grid. Everything is under control," said a spokesperson for Elia, the Belgian grid operator, on Monday.
According to Elia, Belgium has multiple electricity connections with other countries to ensure power supply. However, such connections are less extensive for Spain.
