Iberdrola España reports on its actions in relation to the electricity blackout

Iberdrola España informs that at the time of the incident that occurred last Monday all its generation plants that had received the relevant instructions from the system operator, Red Eléctrica de España, in accordance with the powers attributed to it and in accordance with the communication procedures established by the regulations, were connected. 

As stated by Red Eléctrica, at around 12:30 p.m. yesterday, it, which as system operator has all the information on instantaneous supply and demand, detected anomalous oscillations in the grid that made it difficult to stabilise, which led to the automatic decoupling of various installations in the system. 

From that moment on, Iberdrola España placed all its resources at the disposal of the system operator, Red Eléctrica de España, to help restore supply, in accordance with the system operator-approved protocols. 

Emergency committees were activated, with the continuous 24-hour presence of more than 900 employees in charge of the operation of nearly 400 generation plants and control centres and another 1,000 distribution employees at various facilities.  From that moment on, the instructions of the system operator were followed in the process directed by that operator to gradually incorporate generation and demand together. 

The plants of Iberdrola Energía Sostenible, Iberdrola España Group’s generation subsidiary, operated at all times following the system operator’s instructions, in accordance with the technical characteristics of each technology. Hydroelectric power plants, especially pumped-storage plants, were essential to restore service, as they have autonomous start-up. Combined cycle plants were also incorporated as required by the system operator.  

Iberdrola Group's distribution company in Spain, i-DE Redes Eléctricas Inteligentes, was incorporating electricity demand and restoring supply by zones following the instructions of the system operator and reporting regularly to the authorities and the public. By 9:00 p.m., service had been restored to 53% of the supply points within its service area; by 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, supply had been restored to 97% of them; and by 7:00 a.m., 100% had been restored.   

Since the incident first occurred, information was relayed to distribution users and marketing customers, despite telecommunications connection difficulties. 
 

It has also cooperated by providing all the information requested by the system operator and the authorities so that they can discover the root cause of this incident. Depending on the cause, Iberdrola España will consider adopting the necessary measures to defend its rights and those of its customers. 

Both Iberdrola España and its subsidiaries continue to work and remain fully willing and able to work with the system operator, Red Eléctrica de España, and the competent authorities in accordance with current regulations.