Analysis of events leading to the peninsular blackout of April 28th

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The April 28th blackout was the most significant power system incident to occur in Spain, leaving the entire peninsula without electricity supply for several hours.

Compass Lexecon economists, Antón García, Albert Riera and Alberto Martín, in collaboration with the INESC TEC engineering institute, conducted a study on the causes of blackout, commissioned by AELEC.

The study finds that the limited and uneven distribution of conventional generation—mainly CCGTs—left the system vulnerable to overvoltage conditions. Last-minute grid maneuvers further strained an already fragile balance, triggering a rapid cascade of disconnections.

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