Portugal Gradually Recovers from Widespread Blackout
(MENAFN) Power is being gradually restored across Portugal after a nationwide blackout that lasted several hours, with about one-third of the country's electricity users seeing their service return.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro confirmed during a press conference that the full restoration of the national power grid is expected in the coming hours.
As of 9:30 p.m. local time (2030 GMT) on Sunday, over two million customers—roughly a third of Portugal’s 6.5 million electricity users—had their power reinstated, according to the national grid operator. However, authorities couldn't provide a specific timeline for complete restoration.
The grid restoration is taking place in phases from north to south, with most parts of Porto and Lisbon already reconnected, and airports in Lisbon, Porto, and Faro resuming operations.
Montenegro explained that the blackout, which started around 11:30 a.m. local time (1030 GMT), was caused by an issue in Spain's power network. "The failure is related to an abrupt surge in voltage within the Spanish grid, the origin of which we have not yet been able to determine," he stated.
The Prime Minister added that power restoration in Portugal might take longer than in Spain because Portugal’s grid is solely connected to Spain. He urged citizens to reduce electricity consumption as the situation is monitored.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated that the government's goal is "to continue restoring supply throughout the coming night," highlighting the use of interconnections with France and Morocco, as well as combined-cycle gas and hydroelectric plants for the process.
He also mentioned that "no hypothesis" has been ruled out regarding the potential causes of the outage. Meanwhile, European Union officials have dismissed a cyberattack as the cause. Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, confirmed on social media that "at this point, there are no indications of any cyber attack."
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept
any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,
videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright
issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
