Dylan Wagemans
AN engineer warned weeks ago in the Spanish parliament that grid operator Red Electrica wasn’t prepared for the energy transition that was started by the government of Pedro Sanchez.
Fernando Ley Llano, advisor in the fossil energy sector, was one of the experts that were called to speak before the Industry Commission.
In his speech, Ley said that the government ‘put too much of its eggs in the same basket’, referring to the green energy transition.
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“Of course we need to evolve, but in the end, electricity is moved through cables operated by Red Electrica,” he said, hinting at the fact that the electricity grid isn’t ready for a major shift to green energy.
Judging by the engineer’s statements, the blackout was not entirely unexpected, and may even have been prevented.
Red Electrica included warnings in its 2024 annual report about the risks associated with ‘the high penetration of renewable generation without the necessary technical capacity to deal adequately with disturbances’.
The report even stated that these conditions could lead to ‘blackouts’ and that the imbalance between production and consumption would significantly affect the electricity supply.
The socialist minister that chairs Red Electrica, Beatriz Corredor, even denied the risk of such incidents three weeks ago.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pointed his finger at Red Electrica, which he described as ‘privately operated’ – but the state owns 20% of it, with one of his own ministers running it.
Sanchez also refuses to rule out a cyber attack, even though Red Electrica itself said that there were no such events that took place to cause the blackout.
