Portugal is now better prepared for a blackout

Portugal is today better prepared for a blackout, which "we hope won’t happen" and "in the next three years we will see improvements in our national electricity system", said the Minister of Environment and Energy Maria da Graça Carvalho, who presented the measures to boost the National Electricity System’s security.

This packet of measures will operate on five areas: national electricity system resilience and security; quick and effective grid planning; accelerating renewables; critical infrastructure response capabilities; and international cooperation.

Among the main measures we find doubling the number of black start power stations as of January, adding Baixo Sabor and Alqueva plants to Tapada do Outeiro and Castelo de Bode.

Improvements and a modernisation of the electricity grid are also envisaged, a 137-million-euro investment that will benefit the electricity grid’s operation and control capabilities.

Until January 2026, an auction of 750 MVA will be launched based on battery storage; a competition of 25 million euros in benefits to improve critical infrastructure response capabilities, such as hospitals, water providers and utilities; the revision of the Zones of Great Demand model, which will also be an incentive for the national economy; a boost in the municipality compensations and making it mandatory for the communities to be involved in and accept renewable power projects; setting up a "Green Map" with pre-approved areas for producing renewable energies, with a strategic environmental study that waives lengthy permits; and a simplification of the self-consumption and energy communities’ projects.

Under international cooperation, Portugal and Spain are combined to make the interconnections with the rest of Europe a priority in the European Union, capable of guaranteeing supply security.

Maria da Graça Carvalho says this coordination already yields practical effects, for instance, the loan taken out by the Spanish Government with the European Investment Bank (IEB) to accelerate the interconnections with France.

On the day that signals three months on from the 28 of April "blackout", which originated in Spain, and although the official investigation isn’t concluded yet, the Minister of Environment and Energy guarantees that our systems are overall secure, resilient, and trustworthy.