Demócrata has had access to the set of recordings that took place before the blackout, last April, between Red Eléctrica, and different operators. In these conversations, divided into four audios, one can appreciate the tension that exists due to the fear that the electrical grid will become congested and melt down into the energy zero. At one point, the interlocutors state that, the moment nuclear energy disappears, "we almost certainly crash", thus alluding to the inability of the electrical grid to provide the necessary service to consumers and industries.
This is the literal transcription of the four audios:
Audio 1:“In Ascó they have been on the verge of some group jumping and of course, for that export, if the groups jump we are left at zero”
1) Audio that demonstrates that for months the instability of the system had been increasing and that the management of Red Eléctrica was aware: "There will be meetings... Reports will be made. 31/01/2025 - Time: 11:42 hours
First outgoing call from CC EDRD BARCELONA towards CC REE
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Hello good, I am A. from the Endesa Control Center, I had spoken before with a colleague of yours, it was to clarify a bit this sudden drop in voltage that we have had, because as it has been, they have also called us from ASCO. …....
CC REE: Because it has been this such a big drop that there has been, do you say?
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Yes, because we have looked and precisely there has been a change from -500 (MW) to +500 (MW), that is, of 1000 (MW) suddenly. Has France had any problem or something?
CC REE: No, not what has been seen, … someone has released photovoltaic and they have released an outrage, and then there has been an excess of export. And so we were already transporting a lot all morning, through Aragon-Ascó and all the exit through Vic and well, it has increased a lot. And that's what happened.
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Okay.
CC REE: That's how we've seen it initially, we'll have to look at it more in depth.
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Of course, I imagine. It's what we had seen before, our manager also came, who had been called from Ascó, that in Ascó they were about to have some group trip and of course, for that export, if the groups trip, we are left at zero.
CC REE: Well, look. Esplugues for example has lowered 30 kV the voltage in 400 (kV) and I Ascó I've seen it before at 81, that is, …no, no... it has been a very very brutal oscillation. So, I don't know, they will have to.... this they will analyze everything with the companies and see what happens. What cannot be is that they release generation to us. Solar is not like wind, wind carries inertia, but solar someone arrives and presses a button and if they don't scale it a bit for you, they mess it up for you, and that's what happens.
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Okay, okay.
CC REE: And it is that many times that things like this happen, today it has been very exaggerated, uh. But other times that you all can see things, it is because of things like this, if not....
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Of course, it's what we've said, it's as if we had gone in to pump Moralets, all at once, without scaling it and this is the same effect.
CC REE: Well imagine, this is the same and they arrive somewhere and for price or whatever, they go and raise from… 1000 to 1500 MW DC
EDRD BARCELONA: Clearly, I don't have the generation issue so controlled..., if they put in more solar, I mean, the voltage should have gone up, not down. But clearly if there has been a lot of export and it has all gone, well then that's when there has been...
CC REE: They, when they start generating, if they are not doing anything and suddenly, so to speak, open the tap, it's instantaneous. And then, something you had controlled at a normal load level, with a normal voltage, well, they put it to the maximum and the voltage drops. At first, man, at an electrical level, that's the story. The thing is that, well, they will have to escalate it or..... I don't know, I don't know. This, I'm telling you, there will be meetings about this, because today was very big. All the distributors have seen it, as is normal. Well, they will make a report or something about this.
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Okay, perfect.
CC REE: This is what we have seen at first, then I suppose they will see more things and everything.
CC EDRD BARCELONA: Yes yes, then they will find out why and more. But well, if it's more to understand it a bit and explain it around here. Okay, well thank you very much. Until now.
CC REE: See you later.
Audio 2:“We have a huge problem with the tensions, we have a brutal huge problem, everything is super low. You have to help us”
2) Audio demonstrating that for weeks the instability in tensions was a consequence of the system's lack of inertia (few conventional groups scheduled). "We have a huge problem with the tensions, we have a brutal problem, everything is super low. You have to help us." Date: 07/04/2025 - Time: 12:34 hours
Outgoing call CC EDRD SEVILLA towards CC REE
CC REE: Yes?, hello?
CC EDRD Sevilla: Hello, I am M. from the south zone. Are you J.A.?
CC REE: Yes, tell me.
CC EDRD Sevilla: We have a huge problem with the voltages, we have a brutal huge problem, everything is super low. You have to help us.
CC REE: The problem is that it is, well, that, oscillating … almost up and down, and then when we put in a reactance or take it out, well, it is already in the opposite direction, then…
CC EDRD Sevilla: You can't do anything else, right?
CC REE: No, yes, but with great care.
CC EDRD Seville: The thing is, in truth, I have 64 kV in Seville, I mean, I am directly below the exploitation limits, you know?
CC REE: Okay, yes
CC EDRD Sevilla: In Seville and in all provinces, you know?
CC REE: Yes, if we are like this throughout Spain, huh.
CC EDRD Seville: Give it a little look, okay.
CC REE: Look, Don Rodrigo, I'm going to take you out Don Rodrigo, but we have to go with great caution. Okay, there it is.
CC EDRD Sevilla: It is already getting fixed a little bit, yes.
CC REE: Yes, but clearly, you'll see now ... in the opposite direction.
CC EDRD Seville: And what is the problem?, that there is little demand or much generation?, what is the problem?
CC REE: Let's see... the exchanges and little generation that gives inertia to the system.
CC EDRD Seville: Okay, okay. Agreed, it's already improving a little, although we still continue with quite low tensions.
CC REE: Yes, already. But there we are going to try to maintain it because if it becomes ...
CC EDRD Seville: Okay ... we're going upwards
CC REE: … then we go to 4 twenty-something (kV), of course…
CC EDRD Sevilla: Okay, okay, agreed, well we're going to take a look.
CC REE: Alright, agreed
CC EDRD Seville: Thanks, uh. See you later.
Audio 3: “I believe this is what we are going to have to live with for the next few years, you know? And if they dismantle the nuclear plants, that is already going to be … the turning point”
3) Audio demonstrating that there were inertia problems in the system and the increasing concern among Red Eléctrica technicians due to the cessation of nuclear production. Date: 07/04/2025 - Time: 12:49 hours
Outgoing call CC EDRD SEVILLA to CC REE
CC REE: Yes? CC
EDRD Sevilla: Yes, J.A., I am M.
CC REE: Yes, tell me, tell me.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Already in Puerto Real everything has gone well, everything is working. Verification and testing has finished and I request you to close the 520-5, the central street switch.
CC REE: Just a moment. Okay, 520-5. I'm closing it.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Indeed.
CC REE: Well, there it is, closed.
CC EDRD Seville: Okay, I see it closed here now. Great, so everything finished.
CC REE: Shall we give it all as finished?
CC EDRD Sevilla: Indeed. Very good, thank you very much. Alright, see you later.
CC REE: Nothing, hey, look, uhhh, wait, that, for example, now the tensions, well, they have gone up without doing anything.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Now they are going up, yes.
CC REE: But without doing absolutely anything.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Yeah. It is that I don't know if perhaps there is a problem with the exchanges.
CC REE: Yes … [unintelligible] … international exchange …
CC EDRD Sevilla: Right, it's just that maybe there are problems in other countries and they are fluctuating because of that, no? I have no idea.
CC REE: Yes, yes, yes, it's that, it's that, and the inertia of the system
CC EDRD Seville: Well, nothing, I think this is what we are going to have to live with for the next few years, you know? And if they dismantle the nuclears, which is already going to be ... the turning point.
CC REE: you know? No, you can't bear this I think, because … at some point maybe we'll crash almost certainly.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Yes, yes, yes. Well, nothing, great J.A., thank you very much, see you later.
CC REE: Come on.
Audio 4:“So the sun, well it's very good, for summer and for the beach, but for this, no matter how much they say … a moment will come when …”
4) Audio of the blackout that demonstrates that the operation had been programmed with few conventional resources to guarantee the security of the supply: in the southern zone more groups were needed. The energy zero was seen as a real possibility. As an hour and a half later it happened. 28/04/2025 - Time: 10:59 hours
Outgoing call CC EDRD SEVILLA towards CC REE
CC REE: Yes.
CC EDRD Seville: Hello, what's up? I'm P. from here from Seville.
CC REE: Very good, tell me.
CC EDRD Sevilla: What's up with the tensions?, they are crazy today.
CC REE: That I would like to know too, yes, not just you … they are, well the usual, that the solar enters, leaves and …
CC EDRD Seville: Now at 11:00 are you going to do something? It's just that we're about to stay still, because we're going up and maybe at 11:00 they'll go all out again.
CC REE: We have removed a reactance and perhaps in a while, the moment it stabilizes a bit, well, I will close it again. So, we are … we open reactance, we remove reactance and that's how we are.
CC EDRD Sevilla: But now at 11:00, any program change or something?, that you have planned around there.
CC REE: Well, change of program, but if in the end it is no longer only what the change of program is. Change of program, well … now for example …
CC EDRD Seville: But something about international exchanges or some big boost like that?, because it's that we're afraid to regulate.
CC REE: No, right now there are no sudden changes like that, if more than anything it's the solar issue ... it's the solar issue, which, well, due to price and other things ... well, what they do is that suddenly a lot come in and a lot go out, so that makes the voltage go up or down.
CC EDRD Sevilla: But those who enter, when can they?, will those be married right?
CC REE: Yes, but the problem is that you, a thermal group goes up or down, but it has a ramp. These (solar) the ramp they have is a button that enters or exits, there are 500 (MW), they go down 500 (MW), that is, suddenly.
CC EDRD Sevilla: But I want to tell you, those are programmed since yesterday I understand, right?, those who are going to enter or those who are not, or is that on the fly? … the plots, is the market on the day?
CC REE: No, what happens …
Red Eléctrica:“Solar is very good, but when it comes in or goes out, it goes out suddenly, and since it's by price, just like everything else, it has the ease that it doesn't have a regulator, like a thermal one... so, since there's no regulator, there's no ramp, neither to go up nor to go down. It's ramp zero or one, that is, there's nothing else”
CC EDRD Seville: Now for example at 12:00, do you know who is going to enter or ...?
CC REE: Yes, more or less yes, but … for sure you never know what will be needed because depending on demand and depending on exchanges at any given moment. Well, the regulation then has to keep regulating up or down, but it's what I'm telling you..., that you, to a thermal group, well you can tell it to go up, go down and they program, even hydraulics, but it has a ramp, both to go up and to go down, and the problem is that solar either all comes in or all goes out, that is, there is no ramp as such … And, then, that is the problem that is happening with solar. That solar is very good, but when it comes in or goes out, it goes out suddenly, and since it's by price, like all things, it has the ease of not having a regulator, like a thermal one... then, since there is no regulator, there is no ramp, neither to go up nor to go down. It's ramp zero or one, that is, there is nothing else.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Yes, yes, but what I want to tell you, that the program for those entering today, let's say that's programmed since yesterday, I understand, right?, another thing is that when they enter, they enter directly, right? …
CC REE: Yes, but, even if it is like that, the problem is what I tell you, that they are changing, here every, with the market, ... every quarter of an hour, well it changes. Every quarter of an hour, then, well the generation one, well has to say, well now it goes up, now it goes down, but it's what I tell you, that it enters suddenly.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Yeah, yeah, … well …
CC REE: If that is the problem … And the problem is that as there are more and more … and here in the south today we have Arcos and Almaraz, and that's it, which are the only two groups that could absorb a bit this imbalance of having more groups involved … but since they don't enter.
EDRD Seville: Of course, you have Almaraz and which other one is there here?
CC REE: And Arcos.
CC EDRD Sevilla: And Arcos, who are inside now, right?
CC REE: They are coupled, yes, yes. And we would need to have more generation, "fat", let's say "fat", thermal, which are the ones that regulate.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Yes, that it be stable.
CC REE: Exactly, which are the ones that stabilize, but since the problem is that solar takes over all the rest, well, they don't come in. So the sun, well, it's very good, for summer and for the beach, but for this, no matter how much they say... a moment will come when...
CC EDRD Sevilla: We will break something and everything.
CC REE: Let's hope not ... because these swerves, well
CC EDRD Seville: Yesterday I was talking with a colleague who … we, I think we are going to see a “fat” zero, I think.
CC REE: Man according to this, I'm telling you, it's what I'm telling you, it's that here 600 (MW) enter all at once, but it's not to say ... 600 MW go little by little, no, no, no, 0 ... 5 seconds ago there wasn't and now there are 600 MW, absorb that ... and when it's time to stop, well, exactly the same.
CC EDRD Seville: Well nothing, we are going to set an alarm every quarter of an hour J.A. …
CC REE: Yes, but, even so, the bull always catches you, if it is that …
CC EDRD Sevilla: Yes, always, always, there's no way.
CC REE: There's no way, now it has remained somewhat stable until a quarter past again, when there will be another adjustment and let's see what happens. Maybe, well, it already holds, because besides, as I tell you, the international exchange there isn't much of a jump now... there was a jump at 10:00-11:00, but..., that is 10:00-10:30... from 9:30-10:30, there indeed there was, but right now there isn't.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Now the rest, the solar groups.
CC REE: It is the solar, now it is the solar, only the solar, the entry and exit of that, it is the only thing.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Well, anyway, well, let's see if the morning behaves.
CC REE: That, let the sun go away, that, come on, see you later.
CC EDRD Sevilla: Until now.
Spain, an energy island
This past Friday, the president of Redeia, Beatriz Corredor, demanded at the European Pulse Forum a decisive boost to electrical interconnections between the member States of the European Union.
Corredor has intervened this Friday in the European Pulse Forum, in a panel shared with the director of the Willy Brand School of Public Policy, Andreas Goldthau, and the MEP Michal Szczerba.
During his intervention, on a panel shared with the director of the Willy Brand School of Public Policy, Andreas Goldthau, and MEP Michal Szczerba, he lamented that the Iberian Peninsula "is more an island than the island of Ireland" with regard to connections with the rest of Europe, and recalled that the current level of interconnection is 3%, well below the target set by the EU, set at 15%.
Corredor highlighted that "Europe needs" the renewable energies generated in Spain and Portugal for reasons of competitiveness, efficiency, and energy independence, thus urging European countries to coordinate to combine their different energy mixes.
Blackout of April 2025
In relation to the April 2025 blackout, Corredor indicated that the various reports prepared agree that it "had nothing to do" with renewable energies.
"What happened was a perfect storm with many origins or causes that are based on the unfulfilled mandatory norms that our regulator has implemented since the year 2000," explained
She specified that these rules are related to mandatory voltage control and that part of the power plants that disconnected operated within the regulatory margins permitted at that time. The president of Redeia insisted that it was a multifactorial, unprecedented and unforeseen problem, and highlighted that the main lesson learned is the relevance of voltage control.