World

'Massive blackout': Spanish grid operator rules out cyberattack

"It is quite possible that the affected generation is solar, but it is to early to say for sure," says REE's system operations chief

By Reuters
April 29, 2025
A tourist uses his mobile phones flashlight to open the door of a rented apartment as a police car patrols a street without electric lighting to prevent theft and looting in the stores in the early morning hours, during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain, in Ronda, Spain April 29, 2025. — Reuters
A tourist uses his mobile phone's flashlight to open the door of a rented apartment as a police car patrols a street without electric lighting to prevent theft and looting in the stores in the early morning hours, during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain, in Ronda, Spain April 29, 2025. — Reuters  

MADRID: Spanish electricity grid operator REE REDE.MC said on Tuesday its preliminary assessment had ruled out cyberattack as the cause of the nationwide power outage that hit most of Spain and Portugal on Monday.

Lights went off in most of the two countries at 12:33pm (1033 GMT) on Monday in what was the worst blackout ever recorded in the Iberian Peninsula. Power supply only resumed in the evening.

REE's System Operations Chief Eduardo Prieto told a news briefing the electricity system was hit by a dramatic power generation loss in southwestern Spain, that caused instability in the system that led to its disconnection from the French grid.

He said it was quite possible that the affected generation was solar, but it was to early to say for sure.

Prieto said the system was now stable and working normally.