Power outage in Spain and Portugal

[Ghgan]

 

Edited April 28 by Ghgan

[bsswan]

'Rare atmospheric phenomenon' behind outage and disruption could last a week, Portuguese operator says

We're now hearing from REN, Portugal's grid operator.

It claims the outage that's affected Portugal was caused by a fault in the Spanish electricity grid, related to a "rare atmospheric phenomenon". 

REN says that, due to extreme temperature variations in Spain, there were "anomalous oscillations" in very high-voltage lines.

It says this is known as "induced atmospheric variation", which in turn led to oscillations which caused synchronisation failures between systems.

That led to successive disturbances across the interconnected European network, it adds. 

It also says that given the complexity of the issue, it could take up to a week for the network to fully normalise again. 

[mersaylee]

We are not alone...some say...hope the UPS for essential services are holding up...😁

Edited April 28 by mersaylee

[ER-3682]

Too many EV,Grid cannot Cope it.?Those drive EVs there sure KPKB.

[Beanoyip]

On 4/29/2025 at 10:37 AM, ER-3682 said:

Too many EV,Grid cannot Cope it.?Those drive EVs there sure KPKB.

Those ICE drivers laughing at them now..

[ER-3682]

On 4/29/2025 at 8:53 AM, Beanoyip said:

Those ICE drivers laughing at them now..

Could 1 Day,if Singapore alot of EVs,will this Grid Fail happen here.?

Edited April 29 by ER-3682

[Beanoyip]

On 4/29/2025 at 10:56 AM, ER-3682 said:

Could 1 Day,if Singapore alot of EVs this Grid Failure happen here.?

Very possible, but in my entire life time living in SG, never once had a blackout. 

[Atrecord]

On 4/29/2025 at 9:03 AM, Beanoyip said:

Very possible, but in my entire life time living in SG, never once had a blackout. 

Hi young man 😆

[inlinesix]

On 4/28/2025 at 10:12 PM, bsswan said:

'Rare atmospheric phenomenon' behind outage and disruption could last a week, Portuguese operator says

We're now hearing from REN, Portugal's grid operator.

It claims the outage that's affected Portugal was caused by a fault in the Spanish electricity grid, related to a "rare atmospheric phenomenon". 

REN says that, due to extreme temperature variations in Spain, there were "anomalous oscillations" in very high-voltage lines.

It says this is known as "induced atmospheric variation", which in turn led to oscillations which caused synchronisation failures between systems.

That led to successive disturbances across the interconnected European network, it adds. 

It also says that given the complexity of the issue, it could take up to a week for the network to fully normalise again. 

Explanation from chatgpt

"The electricity supply started "shaking" or "oscillating" — imagine like water sloshing back and forth in a big tank — but here, it was the flow of electricity.

This shaking was too much for the system, so Spain's grid disconnected itself from the rest of Europe automatically to protect itself.

Portugal’s system is closely tied to Spain’s, so it also got dragged down and blacked out."

[inlinesix]

On 4/29/2025 at 8:56 AM, ER-3682 said:

Could 1 Day,if Singapore alot of EVs,will this Grid Fail happen here.?

On 4/29/2025 at 9:03 AM, Beanoyip said:

Very possible, but in my entire life time living in SG, never once had a blackout. 

I ask chatgpt

"Good question — let's unpack it carefully.

In short: Singapore’s grid today is strong and well-managed, and a sudden, massive spike in EV (electric vehicle) charging could stress it, but would very unlikely cause a full "grid failure" (i.e., blackout).
However, without proper planning and upgrades, localized problems like brownouts (voltage drops) or localized transformer failures could happen if many EVs charge simultaneously, especially in certain neighborhoods.

Here’s why:

Singapore's Grid is Highly Robust
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has consistently ranked Singapore’s grid reliability among the world's best (99.999% reliability, or "five nines"). It is designed to handle sudden loads like air-conditioning surges on hot days, so the base infrastructure is already very solid.

EV Load Is Manageable at Current Levels
As of now (2025), EV adoption in Singapore is still growing but not dominant. The government expects EVs to form about 50% of all vehicles by 2030.
Charging habits (overnight, staggered charging, etc.) also spread out demand naturally. Fast charging stations are carefully located and power-limited.

Smart Grid and Demand Management
Singapore is rolling out smart grids and smart charging regulations. For example:

Dynamic pricing to discourage peak-hour charging.

Scheduled charging to spread the load across the night.

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) pilots, where EVs can even supply electricity back to the grid when needed.

Worst Case — Local Strain, Not Nationwide Blackout
If many EVs plugged in at the same time in one area (e.g., same HDB carpark), local substations could overload.
→ That would cause transformer trips or localized brownouts, but not a country-wide collapse.
(In the same way that if many air-conditioners turn on in one condo at once, the condo substation might trip, but not the entire country's electricity.)

Ongoing Upgrades
Singapore Power (SP Group) and EMA are already reinforcing local transformers and upgrading distribution grids in areas identified for high EV adoption (e.g., public carparks under LTA’s EV Common Charger Grant program).

Summary:
→ NO, a lot of EV charging would not crash Singapore’s grid.
→ YES, if unmanaged, localized issues (like in some carparks or neighborhoods) could happen, especially before grid upgrades complete.
→ Singapore is actively planning and upgrading now to avoid these risks."

[bsswan]

On 4/29/2025 at 10:21 AM, inlinesix said:

Explanation from chatgpt

"The electricity supply started "shaking" or "oscillating" — imagine like water sloshing back and forth in a big tank — but here, it was the flow of electricity.

This shaking was too much for the system, so Spain's grid disconnected itself from the rest of Europe automatically to protect itself.

Portugal’s system is closely tied to Spain’s, so it also got dragged down and blacked out."

You didn't need ChatGPT for that...... it's exactly as I posted. 🥴

[Voodooman]

On 4/29/2025 at 9:03 AM, Beanoyip said:

Very possible, but in my entire life time living in SG, never once had a blackout. 

There is a reason why power outage is far and few in Singapore in last 20 years.  We just build a lot of redundancy into the system and if you ask chatgpt, we also have one of the highest cost of electricity.  Being kiasu has its cost.

https://www.mti.gov.sg/Newsroom/Parliamentary-Replies/2023/11/Written-reply-to-PQ-on-Energy-Resilience-in-Singapore

[Lala81]

On 4/29/2025 at 10:55 AM, Voodooman said:

There is a reason why power outage is far and few in Singapore in last 20 years.  We just build a lot of redundancy into the system and if you ask chatgpt, we also have one of the highest cost of electricity.  Being kiasu has its cost.

https://www.mti.gov.sg/Newsroom/Parliamentary-Replies/2023/11/Written-reply-to-PQ-on-Energy-Resilience-in-Singapore

It's just like drains for ponding. They been doing lots and lots of digging and improving the drains at the place I live.
The drains now are super deep.
Though I've never seen any overflowing drains in the 3+ years I've been here with existing infrastructure.

They dug out my in law's carpark also, I didn't understand the reason initially, but they dug out a deep drain. Once again even though there's no ponding in the carpark during heavy rain. 

 

 

[Stary]

On 4/28/2025 at 10:12 PM, bsswan said:

'Rare atmospheric phenomenon' behind outage and disruption could last a week, Portuguese operator says

We're now hearing from REN, Portugal's grid operator.

It claims the outage that's affected Portugal was caused by a fault in the Spanish electricity grid, related to a "rare atmospheric phenomenon". 

REN says that, due to extreme temperature variations in Spain, there were "anomalous oscillations" in very high-voltage lines.

It says this is known as "induced atmospheric variation", which in turn led to oscillations which caused synchronisation failures between systems.

That led to successive disturbances across the interconnected European network, it adds. 

It also says that given the complexity of the issue, it could take up to a week for the network to fully normalise again. 

Meaning is due to act of god is it? 

Edited April 29 by Stary

[Mustank]

Ride bicycle 😂

hook up bicycle to washing machine

Eat combat ration 

[inlinesix]

On 4/29/2025 at 12:12 PM, Mustank said:

Ride bicycle 😂

hook up bicycle to washing machine

Eat combat ration 

Buy this 

[Ghgan]

 

[bsswan]

On 4/29/2025 at 11:48 AM, Stary said:

Meaning is due to act of god is it? 

I am sure Spanish authorities will say just that, yes - large differences in temperature between one region and another.

The Portuguese will just blame bad management and system control.

Cannot decouple like US from the World.