Spanish Power Grid Warns Of Sudden Voltage Fluctuations

 

Spanish power grid warns of sudden voltage fluctuations, requires 90% sampling rate, and temporarily limits renewable energy feed-in.

 

On October 7, Spanish power grid operator Red Eléctrica de España submitted a report to the National Competition and Market Commission (CNMC), noting sudden voltage fluctuations in the Iberian Peninsula power grid. While the fluctuations remain within legal limits, they could trigger power generation or load disconnections, impacting power supply stability.

 

The operator attributed the fluctuations to sudden program changes in renewable energy generation units and delayed response times from generators responsible for dynamic voltage regulation. Consequently, it urgently requested revisions to operating procedures including 3.1 Planning Process, 3.2 Technical Limitations, 7.2 Secondary Regulation, and 7.4 Ancillary Services for Transmission Network Voltage Regulation. The new regulations require an increase in the sampling rate for voltage regulation compliance to 90%, with 60 data sets collected per observation cycle, and mandate that units within the plan maintain reserve capacity for balancing the market to mitigate intraday market risks.

 

As a precautionary measure, REE has temporarily limited renewable energy feed-in until the new regulations are implemented. In response to the power outage risk warning raised by some media, the operator explicitly denied the existence of an imminent power outage threat through social media, emphasizing that the observed voltage fluctuations need to be avoided but do not pose a power supply risk.