A BOMBSHELL sabotage probe has been launched in Spain into Monday’s massive power outages - amid a chaotic and often contradictory rush for answers.
A judge ordered the investigation today as local energy officials revealed a crucial timeline pinpointing three mysterious “events” leading up to the blackouts across Spain, Portugal and southern France.
Timeline of the power failure
RED Eléctrica de España, Spain's electricity board, has released a preliminary timeline of the outages:
- At 12:33pm, the grid suffers an "event" akin to loss of power generation.
- Almost immediately, the grid self-stabilises and recovers
- About 1.5 seconds later, a second "event" akin to loss generation hits
- About 3.5 seconds later, Spain-France is interrupted due to grid instability
- Immediately afterwards, a "massive" loss of renewable power hits the system
- The power grid cascades into a collapse
It also emerged today that “unusual activity” in the UK grid around the same time is being investigated - though has so far stumped authorities.
Suspicions were raised of a Russian sabotage attack almost immediately when the power failed, following a campaign of similar plots to hit Europe.
Juanma Moreno, president of the Andalusian regional government, said a cyber attack was the most likely cause and claimed everything pointed towards a deliberate attack.
Spain's grid operators yesterday ruled out the cyber attack theory, though a national judge says it's still on the cards.
In a chaotic 24 hours, officials have scrambled to offer explanations - which have ranged from a freak weather event to complications with net-zero power generation.
Red Eléctrica de España, Spain's electricity board, produced a report referencing a vague "event" at 12:33pm that caused the loss of power generation - followed by another just 1.5 seconds later.
And the network between Spain and France was interrupted 3.5 seconds after that - leading to the widespread collapse of the supply.
The new info comes as National Court judge José Luis Calama opened up an investigation to determine whether sabotage or cyber-terrorism were at play.
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Calama made clear that while the root of the blackout is still unknown, “cyber terrorism is among the possibilities”.
He demanded a more detailed report on what happened from the grid and investigators within ten days.
Details have emerged about the mystery outages to hit the UK’s electricity system hours before Spain and Portugal.
Control room staff at the National Energy System Operator (Neso) noticed suspicious activity on Sunday, reports.
It confirmed there were unexpected shifts in the power frequency in the early morning and the evening.
A steady frequency within certain limits is vital to keeping power flowing.
The first problem in the UK, at around 2am, was an outage at the Keadby 2 gas-fired power plant in Lincolnshire.
That was followed by the unexplained failure of the Viking Link interconnector between the UK and Denmark.
And then at around 6pm the frequency shifted unexpectedly again – with the cause also currently unknown.
Portugal's national grid operator, REN, said yesterday it believed a "rare atmospheric event" could be behind the outage.
It said that extreme temperature variations in Spain possibly led to surges in current and then system failures, in a process called "induced atmospheric variation".
Investigators in Spain and Portugal don't yet know what caused the power to fail, but will be well aware of Putin's past plots to cripple European nations.
The governments of both Germany and the Czech Republic were hit with cyber assaults on the same day last year, May 3, and Russian fingerprints detected.
And Norwegian government websites were rendered unusable for a full day back in 2022.
Cyberattacks are just one weapon in Putin's arsenal.
He has also peppered the continent with arson, bombs plots, "air terror", and assassination plans.
A chorus of experts warned that last month's Heathrow fire, which took out the airport's power and entire service for a day, could also have been the work of Russia.
Power has now largely been restored in the Iberian Peninsula, with lights flickering back on to cheers from locals.
Spain says it is focusing on "overcoming the worst" and identifying the cause of what was the continent's largest power outage.
At the worst point on early Monday afternoon, airports and hospitals shut down and trains screeched to a halt.
Footage showed people queuing outside grocery stores and ATMs to stockpile essentials amid fears the mayhem could last for days.
Roads in Spain, Portugal and parts of France were left snarled up with traffic as lights and signals went blank - with emergency officers drafted in to tackle the bedlam.
Some hospitals cancelled all surgeries for Monday amid fears for patient safety in the region's most severe blackout for years.
Spain's train service came to a complete stop, leaving huge crowds stranded at stations, and Madrid's underground network was evacuated.
But Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez confirmed that power has been restored in some areas of the north and south of Spain.
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Air traffic was slashed to "half capacity" as flights were cancelled from a number of airports - with Lisbon turning away all arrivals for hours.
And a major tennis tournament, the Madrid Open, had to be suspended, with Brit Jacob Fearnley's match interrupted by a huge "bang".
Timeline of Russian sabotage attacks across Europe
SINCE the war in Ukraine it is believed the Russians have launched a wave of sabotage attacks across Europe.
Oslo, Norway, June 29, 2022 - Cyberattack renders government websites unusable for 24 hours
Riga, Latvia, February 27, 2024 - Arson attack on'Museum of the Occuption'
London, UK, March 20, 2024 - Wagner-group linked arson attack at warehouse.
Wroclaw, Poland, April 18, 2024 - Plot to assassinate Zelensky foiled
Warsaw, Poland, April 13, 2024 - Warsaw shopping centre torched by suspected Russian agent
Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2024 - Cyberattacks on German politicians and companies
Prague, Czechia, May 3, 2024 - Mass cyber attacks on government and infrastructure
Vilnius, Lithuania, May, 9, 2024 - Arson attack on Ikea - targeted as store was same colour as Ukrainian flag
Paris, France, June 7, 2024 - Russian accused of planning plot to plant bomb at D-day celebration.
Dusseldorf, Germany, July 12, 2024 - Western intelligence reveal plot to assassinate German arms boss.
Birmingham, UK, July 22, 2024 - Russia suspected of planting device at DHL depot.
Warsaw, November 8, 2024 - Prosecutors reveal Russian parcel bomb plot across Europe
Vilnius, Lithuania, November 25, 2024 - DHL cargo plane crashes after suspected Russian package bomb
Baltic Sea, December 25, 2024 - Estlink-2 cable cut by ship anchor - one of many cable cutting attacks linked to Russia