Bankinter | Redeia presented a report on Wednesday with its view of the causes of the blackout. Redeia chairwoman Beatriz Corredor justified the presentation of the report on the grounds of the company’s ‘legal obligation’ to produce such a document whenever a significant event occurs. The report points to a lack of energy absorption in the system, which caused a power surge. Absorption is a mechanism that allows some power stations to feed electricity into the grid when there is a shortage and absorb it when there is a surplus, thus keeping the system in balance. The responsibility for this management lies with the large electricity companies.
Therefore, the system operator considers all its actions to have been appropriate and does not believe it should accept any claims. The government report on the causes of the blackout apportioned blame between Redeia and the electricity companies. On the one hand, it blamed the electricity companies for failing to regulate the voltage in the grid. On the other hand, it points out that Redeia’s programming was insufficient (it could have programmed more power stations with that capacity and did not do so). On that day, according to the government report, Redeia was operating with the lowest number of thermal power stations capable of controlling voltage in the whole year. Redeia maintains that, regardless of whether its programming was insufficient or not, ‘it complied with the regulations and provided sufficient resources to the system’. Link to the Redeia report.
Bankinter analysis team’s view: Following the government report released on Tuesday and Redeia’s report made public yesterday, it is now the turn of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) – which also has authority in this matter to continue investigating – and then the courts. This is good news in principle for Redeia, which does not appear as the sole party responsible for the blackout in the government report, although the document has no legal validity and is not a final decision. The most likely scenario is that the legal battle will be long and complex. Depending on who is found to be at fault, compensation will be paid by one company or another or, in any case, by the insurers they have contracted.
