Lisbon, May 22, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's grid operator, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), has requested a postponement of the 28 April deadline for its submitting a report on the blackout that took place on 28 April, with the country's energy regulator, ERSE, giving it another 10 days.
According to the regulator, REN had asked or the deadline to be put back to allow it to gather and provide information to which it had not yet had access. The new deadline for submitting the report is now 28 May.
Initially, the deadline for submitting the report was 20 working days, ending on 18 May. With this change, the deadline has been extended to 30 days.
"REN requested the postponement of the delivery of the report on the High Impact Incident (HII), in order to collect information that it had not been able to access, to the deadline set for requesting the classification of Exceptional Event (30 days)," an official ERSE source told Lusa.
An official source at REN said that "the extension is planned and was requested due to the complexity of the data to be analysed. REN's aim is to deliver a report that is as detailed and informative as possible."
On 28 April, a widespread power cut left mainland Portugal and Spain practically without electricity, as well as part of France.
Closed airports, transport and traffic congestion in major cities and fuel shortages were some of the consequences of the blackout.
The incident is widely agreed to have shown the importance of increasing the resilience of the wider European Union energy network, at a time when the Iberian Peninsula has connectivity of less than 3% with the rest of the bloc.
The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) is investigating the causes of the blackout, which is believed to have originated in Spain, and which it has classified as exceptional and serious.
A panel of experts has been set up by ENTSO-E and charged with drawing up a factual report by 28 October this year at the latest that is to form the basis of a final report on the investigation into the incident, which in turn must be published by 30 September 2026 at the latest.
SCR/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
