The Basque industry prepares a flood of claims for the losses of the blackout

The point is not enough to press a switch to start a workplace. Each forced stop involves restarting complex processes, recalibrating machinery and assuming extra costs due to contractual breaches or loss of raw materials. The abrupt electric interruption last Monday also left its mark in the form of material damage to equipment and facilities.

The industry, which represents 24.2% of Euskadi GDP, was totally stopped for almost 24 hours. The main companies in the territory, consulted by the mail, could not resume their activity normally until Tuesday at noon, after undertaking a race to counterreloj for containing losses that, in many cases, are already considered irreversible. Lehendakari himself, Imanol Pradales, told the electro -intense sector as the great victim by the blackout, referring to the “material losses” suffered by the companies.

In some facilities, on the other hand, the damage is not measured only during hours, but on full days of production. This is the case of Petronor. In the Muskiz Refinery the activation processes of the FCC unit – the heart of the conversion of crude oil into products such as gasoline and diesel – did not begin until Friday, due to the strict security protocols necessary to stabilize the plant and avoid operational risks. During the blackout, the application of this containment plan caused a dense smoke in the torches – a controlled combustion to burn waste gases – that has already become one of the most symbolic images of the electricity cut in Bizkaia.

The companies consulted by this newspaper – the bulk of the Basque productive fabric – still do not dare to make an estimate of the costs caused by the blackout. They still collect information, evaluate the impact and study possible legal routes to claim losses that, according to CEOE, reach 1.6 billion throughout the country.

The Alavesa Vidrala firm has already made public its intention to submit a lawsuit for the “millionaire losses” suffered, taking advantage of the Visit of Lehendakari to its plant last Wednesday. And it will not be an isolated case. The Guipuzcoan employer Adegi, before the cascade of demands that is expected, offers legal assistance to their associates with the objective to demand the repair of economic damage. The problem, however, is to determine who is responsible for assuming that responsibility and if insurers, electricity or public administration are arranged – or legally obliged – to respond.

The key, from the entrance, goes through identifying the origin of the ruling because whoever is responsible must assume the costs of the break. Among the experts of the energy sector there is some consensus to point out an error in the planning by Red Electrica, of which the State is a majority shareholder through the SEPI. However, the central government insists on keeping “all possibilities” open, without ruling out a cyber attack and pointing to electricity due to a possible bad praxis, which has generated bewilderment and discomfort in the sector.

The insurers specialized in business risks ask, for the moment, “patience” to their clients. Ander Bilbao, head of industry in the northern part of the firm Asterra Pariets, explains that since Monday they recovered the current in their offices they have received “a flood” of consultations of the affected companies. However, he admits that they still cannot offer a clear response, since the origin of the blackout conditions any coverage.

Business coverage

Bilbao explains that policies differentiate between the damages that companies have suffered. The first habitual condition in these cases is electrical damage: machinery that is broken by abrupt disconnection, electronic components that fail or the need to replace parts. Standard insurance, initially and always attending to the drafting of each contract, would cover these incident.

To this are added the damage to other material goods, such as the refrigerated products that have broken the cold chain or industrial ovens where the laundry has solidified, forcing to stop the process and, in some, to discard material. This type of incidents, initially, would also be contemplated in the policies.

The problem arises when demanding the loss of benefits linked to the interruption of public services. That is, what companies could have won if the blackout had not happened. It is a coverage that has contracted almost all industrial groups. However, “it is not a blank check,” since in most cases it is only activated if the origin of the problem is linked to material damage suffered by the supplier.

If the blackout had been caused by a fire in a substation, for example, insurers would assume the cost. But if, as it seems, the responsibility falls in the electricity grid, the Basque industrial sector would only have the judicial way to claim damage. To this is added another obstacle: many policies only cover prolonged interruptions and the cut last Monday, of about an hour in most Euskadi, did not reach the minimum threshold required in most contracts.