Experts speculate over cause of Iberian power outages

Nationwide power shortages brought chaos to Spain and Portugal this Monday (28^th April): crippling mobile networks, bringing airports and rail networks to a standstill and leaving millions without electricity.  

And whilst power is now gradually being restored across most of the affected areas, the initial cause of the blackouts remain unclear, with some experts cautioning that it could take many weeks, or even months, to complete a full investigation.

Unsurprisingly, when news of the outages broke many suspected foul play and whilst Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez confirmed that he had spoken to NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, his Portuguese counterpart Luis Montenegro, along with European Council president Antonio Cost, have played down the possibility of a cyberattack.

There has also been speculation - following a BBC interview with Portuguese energy company REN - that the outages may have been caused by a phenomenon called ‘induced atmospheric vibration,’ where extreme temperature variations cause oscillations (known as galloping) in high-voltage transmission lines that can alter their electrical properties and lead to potential mechanical failure and damage.