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Iberdrola’s Núñez de Balboa mega-plant has been identified as the cause of the nationwide power outage that hit Spain on April 28. According to El Diario, this large solar farm experienced abnormal operations about 30 minutes before the blackout. Spain’s grid operator, Red Eléctrica (REE), has called for an investigation into what it describes as «an internal control malfunction» or «an internal anomaly at the plant», which Iberdrola must clarify.
The problem at the photovoltaic plant in Badajoz triggered «a series of abnormal fluctuations on the grid», according to sources close to confidential government reports and REE. After 49 days of investigation, officials concluded the outage was «multifactorial», caused by «a combination of factors» rather than a single fault.
These factors include «insufficient system capacity to regulate voltage as expected, errors in REE’s programming (which REE denies), and malfunctions in voltage control systems of production facilities, some of which were disconnected improperly». Together, these issues led to «a chain reaction of overvoltage» without a single clear cause.
REE’s operations director, Concha Sánchez, described the voltage fluctuation as «very significant» and «dangerous», prompting a change in how Spain’s grid connects with France, from alternating current to a fixed setpoint, making voltage control more complex.
The plant’s production fluctuated sharply, with swings reaching about 70% of output before the event. This behavior is unusual for solar technology and more typical of synchronous sources like nuclear or gas.
During the incident, system operators received several alerts about oscillations and detected a sudden drop in system damping. The plant then abruptly increased output from 250 MW to 350 MW.
Iberdrola’s internal sources told Europa Press the plant operated «impeccably». The investigation aims to clarify the cause of the oscillations and to implement measures preventing a repeat.
