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“Of course, we will closely examine what the causes were, how well we were prepared, and what lessons we can learn from such an incident,” stated the spokesperson for the Commission. This will be done in close cooperation with the managers of the power networks. “When the time comes, we will, of course, take the necessary measures.”
According to European legislation, Spain must submit a report within three months. A European expert panel, led by a network operator from another member state, will also be set up to conduct an independent investigation. This panel must submit an initial technical report within six months and, at a later stage, also make recommendations.
For Belgian Member of the European Parliament Bruno Tobback (Vooruit/S&D), who is working on an initiative report on the European power network, the outage demonstrates how important investments in the modernization and interconnectivity of the European grid are. “Because the Spanish grid has only a limited connection with the rest of the European continent, other countries could not step in when things went wrong on their grid,” he states.
Tobback advocates for additional funds from the European budget but also points to the importance of planning and coordination and standardization of the infrastructure. “With our report, we want to urge the Commission to quickly develop a plan for investments in the energy network,” he concludes. “This is crucial to strengthen the competitiveness of our industry and to lower energy prices for households and businesses. And what happened in Spain also shows that there is no time to lose.”