(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a

columnist for Reuters.)

*

Spain and Portugal power outage raises challenges of new

power

system

*

Blackout linked to sharp and rapid drop in power, possibly

from

solar generation

*

Governments should invest in new storage and grid

technologies

By Ron Bousso

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - While it may be tempting to

blame the unprecedented power outage that hit the Iberian

peninsula this week on the rapid growth of wind and solar power

in Spain, reliance on renewables is not to blame. Rather, the

issue appears to be the management of renewables in the modern

grid.

The massive blackout on Monday - the biggest in Europe's history

- should be a stark warning to governments: investments in power

storage and grid upgrades must go hand in hand with the

expansion of renewables generation.

Spanish authorities are currently investigating the causes of

the huge outage, as power continues to be gradually restored.

But here is what we know so far:

At around 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT), electricity generation in

Spain dropped rapidly from around 27 gigawatts to just over 12

GW. The 15 GW loss was equivalent to 10% of Spain's total

installed capacity.

The sudden drop in grid load destabilized electricity flows,

which require an extremely stable frequency of 50 Hertz to

maintain supply. This, in turn caused a break in the Spanish and

French electricity interconnection that goes through the

Pyrenees mountains, resulting in the total collapse of the

Spanish power system.

Spain exports electricity to Portugal, so the collapse of

power in Spain quickly spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula.

Some areas in France also suffered brief outages on Monday.

WHO DONE IT?

The cause of the initial drop that led to the catastrophic

cascade of events is unclear, though a collapse in Spain's solar

power system was certainly involved.

Data from Spanish grid operator Red Electrica shows that on

Monday solar generation dropped at 12:30 p.m. from around 18 GW

to just under 5 GW by 1.35 p.m., so this accounted for the vast

majority of the overall drop. But it remains unknown why this

occurred or why it caused the entire system to collapse so

rapidly.

One possible contributor is the lack of so-called 'grid

inertia' as a result of the relatively small share of nuclear

and fossil fuel generation in Spain's power mix.

Inertia is the kinetic energy created by the rotation of

spinning generators. In the case of a sudden loss of power, this

provides a temporary supply of energy that can help maintain

grid frequency, thus acting as a shock absorber.

Inverter-based wind and solar power, which generated just

under 70% of Spain's total electricity at the critical moment on

Monday, does not involve physical rotation and therefore inertia

could not compensate for the sudden loss of power.

An obvious short-term solution to avoid a repeat of the

blackout would be to maintain a higher baseload of rotating

power generation.

Over the long term, however, power systems will need to

invest heavily in battery capacity to store electricity as well

as technologies for synchronising the grid that are critical to

maintaining the 50 Hz frequency.

In theory, this should be doable, as battery costs have

declined sharply in recent years and are being deployed at scale

around the world.

But all this would still require heavy investments. While

spending on new solar capacity reached around $500 billion last

year, investment in grids was only at around $400 billion,

becoming bottlenecks for the energy transition, according to the

International Energy Agency.

WAKE-UP CALL

While this outage might be unprecedented on the continent,

European governments cannot say there were no warning signs.

One growing source of concern related to the management of

renewables has been the increase in so-called 'dunkelflaute'

events across northwest Europe this winter. This refers to

extended periods in which levels of both wind and sun decline

significantly, limiting the power that can be generated by

either.

Up until now, such declines have typically been offset by

natural gas power plants. But unless countries want to continue

increasing their reliance on natural gas, these droughts will

eventually need to be offset by battery storage solutions.

More generally, the outage is a reminder that current grids,

particularly in developed economies, are old - very old. Many

were built in the 1950s and require urgent upgrades if they are

to handle the forecast growth in electricity demand in the

coming decades as decarbonisation accelerates.

Just last week, European governments emphasised the

importance of such investments at a London summit hosted by the

International Energy Agency.

"Delegates called for long-term policy frameworks that

anticipate future system needs, including flexible generation,

storage demand-side response and regional interconnection," the

IEA said in its closing statement.

"Participants agreed that the future of energy security must

also encompass newer dimensions such as cybersecurity, extreme

weather events, supply chain resilience for critical minerals

and clean technologies, and integration of electrified and

decentralised systems."

The power outage that hit Spain and Portugal should be a

wake-up call for both governments and power companies.

Developing a modern power grid will require comprehensive

investment in the entire power infrastructure, including the

unsexy parts that don't generate headlines - until they stop

working.

** The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a

columnist for Reuters. **

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