Portugal, Spain, and part of the southwest of France are currently affected by a huge power cut. Bank card payments and public transport no longer works in a large part of the Iberian Peninsula.
Article updated on April 28 at 4:51 p.m. : We have published an article concerning the 4 nuclear power plants arrested following the loss of power to explain the operation.
Article updated on April 28 at 3.30 p.m. : The country announces that the return of electricity will take 6 to 10 hours to be restored to Spain. So around 6 to 8 p.m. about 6 p.m.
Original article, from April 28 to 2:34 p.m. : As Red Electrica reports on X (ex-Twitter)Spain is affected by a huge power cut. Portugal is not spared as the relay Selectra.
For the moment, the cause is not fully known, but the incident would be linked to interconnection with France.
As announced Energy knowledge who relays AFP information, ” REV confirms a massive cut in the electrical supply throughout the Iberian Peninsula, which also affects part of the French territory and whose impact reached Portugal from 11:33 am (10:33 GMT)« .
- « It would apparently be a problem in the transport network (electrical energy, editor’s note) whose cause is still to be identified, apparently in Spain“Said Minister of government spokesperson Antonio Leitao Amaro, to the news agency Lusa.
According to contacts present on site, payments to Porto and Lisbon are impossible by bank card and public transport are stopped. In Spain, trains would be stopped in the entire country.
Nuclear power plants in Spain
According to the Portuguese Electricity Distributor E-Redes quoted by the RTP chain and relayed by TF1« The interruption is due to a problem in the European electricity network, which affected the national network. ” “On the advice of Ren, power cuts had to be carried out in certain specific areas to ensure the stability of the network. The service is gradually restored, ”he adds.
In Spain, five of the seven nuclear power plants have ceased to operate “for security reasons”, reports El Pais. “The internal systems of each power station must remain operational and the installations use the diesel equipment available to each nuclear power plant,” says the Spanish daily.
The situation in France
In France, we do not have specific information for the moment, but it seems that a very small part of the households is affected.
Part of France has also been affected “For a few minutes in the Basque Country”. Households “Have been deprived of power supply” more “The whole has since been restored”specifies RTE who mobilizes for « porter assistance » to his Spanish neighbor. “The Iberian network was automatically disconnected from the European network from 12:38 pm to 1:30 pm, time at which the 400KV electric line was put into service between French and Spanish Catalonia”add this press release.
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