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Recently, Spain and Portugal experienced massive power outages, with the primary cause identified as "overvoltage." This term refers to a situation where the voltage in the power grid becomes excessively high, forcing protective systems to shut down parts of the grid, leading to widespread outages. According to Spain's Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, the outage occurred on a day when the "voltage regulation capability was insufficient."

Aagesen stated in a press conference in Madrid that theoretically, Spain's power grid should be stable enough to handle such situations, but the reality showed significant issues. She explained that overvoltage led to the shutdown of multiple power plants, thereby triggering subsequent outages. Aagesen emphasized that some energy companies improperly disconnected their plants from the grid to protect their facilities.

She pointed out that the Spanish grid operator REE also played a significant role, as its planning for power generation was not thorough enough. Aagesen noted that traditional gas turbine plants generally have greater capability to manage overvoltage compared to most photovoltaic or wind power plants, but REE failed to incorporate a sufficient number of traditional plants into its planning.

Furthermore, Aagesen clarified that there is no evidence to suggest that this outage was initiated by a cyberattack. The incident occurred on April 28, affecting the entirety of Spain and Portugal, causing massive disruptions in transportation and communication systems. Even southern France and Morocco were briefly impacted, making this one of the largest blackout events in Europe to date.

This incident has raised concerns about the efficiency of grid management and left many citizens worried about the potential for future outages under similar circumstances.