Lisbon, March 20, 2026 (Lusa) — Portugal's electricity and gas network managing company, REN, said on Friday that the measures recommended by the European experts who investigated the Iberian blackout of April 2025 are nothing new for the country, as most are already implemented or being implemented.
"The report by the ENTSO-E [European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity] Expert Panel, approved unanimously, including by ACER [Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators], confirms what REN has been saying from the start, namely that the crisis originated in Spain and its spread to Portugal's national electricity system (SEN) was inevitable," an official REN source told Lusa.
For the national electricity grid manager, none of the approximately 20 expert recommendations "is considered new for Portugal, with most already implemented or being implemented, under the terms of legislation, regulations and decisions approved by the government, the sector regulator and the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology".
These measures suggested by ENTSO-E to its members, "but also to other entities, governments, regulators and even European bodies, prove that the industry and the sector react to the challenges they face, as a result of an energy transition that implies major changes in transport and distribution networks and energy sources," REN noted.
Among the recommendations, experts advocated strengthening voltage control and coordination between electricity production, distribution, and transport.
The document, released on Friday, states that until 11:33:18 a.m. (Portuguese time), the moment when the Spanish system and, consequently, the SEN reached the point of no return, no electricity generation source in Portugal had disconnected from the grid, a fact that confirms the blackout's origin.
Experts also stated that the blackout "did not result from a single cause, but from a combination of factors that make this event unique," REN highlighted.
On 28 April 2025, the Iberian Peninsula suffered an electrical failure that left thousands of people in the dark for several hours, without access to transport, communications and basic services. In Portugal, the blackout occurred at 11:33 a.m.
Experts concluded that the incident resulted from multiple technical factors but did not attribute legal responsibilities, referring that assessment to national authorities.
The investigation identified a combination of factors, including differentiated voltage limits, low load on the lines, failures in protection systems, and insufficiencies in dynamic voltage control.
MES/ LYT // AYLS
Lusa
