Is it possible to take lessons out of the blackout without a history that the Peninsula suffered on Monday? Some are easy to answer: having emergencies seems like a good idea. The money in coins and bills became essential to be able to buy food in those businesses that did not close. The transistors to batteries also had a huge prominence, an object that already included the famous EU survival kit, which also advises to store water, cans, flashlights, hornillos, medicines …
The difficult to answer is the one that concerns the electrical system: what to do so that it does not happen again? Difficult at this time in which it is not yet clear what happened during those five seconds in which frequency alterations and 15 GW of power “disappeared.” Everything indicates that the problem could originate in the southwest, but the technology of the plant or its exact location or size is not known and right now there is talk of several possible chain failures. Is it possible to make the system more robust? Do we need more interconnections? Is a mix hundred percent renewable? Does storage lack? Would you protect us a more distributed production network? Should we discuss nuclear closure, raise energy as a public service …? The questions are piled up, some are quite controversial and others very difficult to answer yet, but some begin to see as necessary. Pedro Fresco, Director Valencian Association of Companies of the Energy Sector, explains the anomaly of this episode and that it is necessary to know the millisecond data to millisecond and dictate the causes to be able to make diagnoses because “the system at that time had four nuclear power plants, combined, hydraulic, renewable cycles. There were seven sources with synchronous generation and inertia. Inertia allows an alteration of frequency, what we are talking about, stabilizes and of time to the system operator to detect the cause and correct it. Photovoltaic and wind plants do not do that, they work differently, ”he says.
Should we improve the inertia of renewables? Add storage? Fresco clarifies that it is although it is true that «wind and photovoltaic do not have inertia can count on it, through software, power electronics. But this is not in the operation procedure and has never been required, nor has it been considered necessary. This service could also do it very efficiently. What happens is that we still do not have them in the electrical system or have the operation procedures so that they react in the way that the system needs in cases like these ». The physicist, mathematician and energy expert of the CSIC, Antonio Turiel, believes that: «The immediate cause is the least. The background problem is that the network is unstable. If you introduce photovoltaic energy, you have to put stabilization systems. What’s happening? They are expensive. And then what have we done? Do not put them. And this is the sad reality of the matter. Then suddenly comes a slightly large disturbance, one day you are producing a lot of photovoltaic, and the network goes to zero. Everything that had been installed until 2022 does not have these systems. Now there is a regulation that forces them to put them. But what about what is already installed?
Rafael Riquelme, an industrial engineer and expert in energy markets of the General Council of Official Colleges of Industrial Engineers comments: «Solar and wind do not have that synchronous generation that guarantees, in the face of small errors, that we are able to maintain the system working. The centrals, even if they are renewable, should have those support systems. The problem is that within the scenarios of possible anomalies, it was not contemplated. The size of the anomaly for which the system is prepared, are one or two GW of power, at most. But of course, we had a fall of 15. What happened? It is not known. Can we prepare for an anomaly of 15? It is a matter of putting money and top infrastructure. But of course, what miles would be necessary to prepare for an anomaly of 15 gigawatts? It will have to do ».
Interconxions with France
It is another of the lines to which many experts point out. In fact, one of Europe’s objectives is to increase the interconnection between Spain and France from 3% to 10. Being an energy island does not always benefit. However, «the problem is that France has the south network very little connected to the north. We could say that in France instead of having a unique transport system, one has one to the north and one to the south. When it has been proposed to strengthen the connection between the two countries, it has been considered as a European utility project and its costs would be assumed by Europe. But they should internally reinforce their network so that it had some sense to reinforce the connection between countries, ”says Riquelme.
Distributed systems
Conservation organizations such as Greenpeace underline that “the system needs changes that give it more flexibility, interconnection and storage, to cushion unforeseen imbalances. A more decentralized and more based on independent self -consumption micro -revenue. Synchronous capacity systems are needed, such as thermoelectric solar, storage in all its latest generation versions or systems. It is not enough to add renewable in large quantities to the system. It must be adapted to the ability of it to be flexible, for which not only the technologies used to generate electricity, but the capacity for storage and demand management »matter. For Fresco Pedro “the more melted, more interconnections and more batteries have in a system, the better.”
A mix in question?
These days a lot has been discussed about the participation of renewable energy in the system that day and if the mix must be rethink. Pedro Fresco points out again that «the market comes out many times 100% renewable. It is not true that you cannot integrate more from a point, because there are mechanisms to do so. The amount of renewable energy in the system at half past twelve is four points lower than Holy Thursday and that day the system works perfectly. In the system, on the 28th at 12 in the afternoon, there was sufficient inertia in theory so that in the case of there would be a deviation could be automatically correct ». However, he insists that “the system will require storage power, which will allow us to integrate 100%renewable, which we cannot do today.”
Another of the issues that have been talked about is the need to reopen the debate on nuclear closure, something that Riqueleme considers that it is inevitable that it occurs as well as discussing the agreed calendar. «It is very likely that this is an argument in favor of its maintenance. In Spain we have a fantastic, very renewable and cheap mix (we are at the forefront of this and that is why these things happen), but we will have to see how we balance it and ensure the supply before a scenario that, I insist, was out of the schemes and is totally surprising ».
At the close of this edition the doubts about what happened are many and it seems that the answers will take to arrive and with them the solutions. What has happened is, perhaps a good time to reflect on the mix or «rather about what use is made of the mix. It seems that renewables have to be accompanied by more stabilization measures and, maybe, at certain times you have to have combined cycles or other sources that give you stability. There are issues that should really make us reflect on how we have been able to allow this to happen and you have to call the legislator, but also the operators and the citizens to question the use made of the mix. The renewables are good news, there have been many days of 100% energy per renewable, but the same is the time to rethink the entire model … but we can also think that the same has been run a lot in some aspects with the renewables and it has bet on large wind and photovoltaic fields. Let’s not forget the great social controversy that has been generated and the tremendous impacts that could be minimized by making self -consumption and polygon facilities. Nuclear? They are obsolete and are expensive, but you have to ask questions and discuss. Intervene in the market? Does it sound very Marxist? However, there was already a cap on gas, when prices rose and, nevertheless, very liberal countries such as the United Kingdom adopted that measure ».