⚡️ Blackout in Spain & Portugal 2025-04-28

At 12:30, the grid lost over 15GW of power(about 60% of its total load).

❓What caused it? There’s no official answer, possible reason:
1. A short circuit triggered by a fire near a high-voltage line
2. This might destabilize a nuclear plant between Bordeaux and Toulouse
3. The domino effect led to a cascade failure & isolated Spain and Portugal from the rest of Europe

💡 Why did it take so long to restore? Because the system went down completely, operators couldn’t just flip a switch. They had to perform a black start

🛠 What is a black start? you need electricity to make electricity. How it works:
1. Tiny generators(eg diesel-based), kick in first-they don’t need the grid to run
2. They bring online slightly bigger power plants(eg hydro or gas turbines)
3. These medium stations help boot up larger stations like nuclear

Step-by-step, the grid is rebuilt. During that process:
- voltage and frequency must be matched
- the generation and consumption must be aligned