António Costa encourages investments in network security
In what instantly sounded odd – given that Portugal’s energy blackout last week is believed to have been caused by power oscillations on the Spanish grid – president of the European Council, Portugal’s former PS prime minister, António Costa has advocated for more energy interconnections within the EU, suggesting these reduce the risk of blackouts…
“We must continue to improve the Union’s energy integration and interconnection because this will also help to reduce the risk of incidents and blackouts like last week’s on the Iberian Peninsula,” he told a public debate today.
Speaking during a visit to the Spanish city of Barcelona, at the Cercle d’Economia civic association for public debate, bringing together EU heads of government and state, Mr Costa stressed that it was “essential to increase investment in network security”.
“We are also taking measures to ensure that electricity prices are no longer dependent on the volatility of fossil fuel prices,” he said, on the day that the European Commission is to present a plan for the EU to stop depending on energy from Russia by 2027.
As an example, Mr Costa said that “the Iberian solution offered lessons on how to move forward so that citizens and companies benefit from cheap, clean and secure energy”.
This is undoubtedly the ‘best part’ of the arrangement that sees Portugal connected to the Spanish grid, but the less optimum aspect is what happened on Monday, April 28 – and which electrical engineers have stressed they always tried to warn political decision-makers about, but “no one wanted to listen”. ND
Source material: LUSA
