Blackout in Spain, Portugal and France: millions without electricity. Here’s how the Italian network works and how they face Blackout and Cyber-Rischi.
Monday 28 April 2024 A vast blackout hit Spain, Portugal and some areas of the south of France, leaving millions of people without electricity, Internet And public transport. The disbursement of electricity was interrupted around 12:50 and the complete restoration request between six and ten hours, according to what was communicated by local operators. The precise origin of the blackout is still indeterminatebut it is assumed a strong oscillation of the flow of energy in the networkand the possibility of a IT attack, hypothesis now under investigation by the Spanish and Portuguese authorities.
The railway traffic has been paralyzed Throughout Spain, the Madrid Metro has been evacuated e Flights have been deleted. The authorities invited citizens to stay at home and not to drive. Also The European Commission is monitoring the situation closely, in contact with the national authorities and with the European network of electric networks (ENSSO-E).
In this critical scenario, Terna, The manager of the Italian electricity networkreassured that there are no operational critical issues on the network of National transmission. This offers us the opportunity to better understand How the Italian electrical system works and what are his Protection and resilience strategies.
The long journey of energy
When we turn on a light bulb or load the phone, We don’t think about the long and articulated journey that makes the energy to get to our homes. In Italy the energy is produced by plants fed by different sources – gas, coal, hydroelectric, wind And solar – And in part imported thanks to 22 interconnection lines with neighboring countries. National production covers about 90% of the needs, But the European network allows rapid exchanges of energy, increasing safety.
The transmission: from very high to low voltage
Immediately after production, energy is transmitted to Very high tension (380,000 volts) on over 70,000 km of lines managed by Terna. The tension then comes gradually lowered To be distributed in the houses:
- Cabins primary: from 380 kV to 132 kV.
- Cabins secondary: from 132 kV to about 30 kV.
- Final transformers: from 30 kV to 230-400 volts, suitable for domestic use.
The distribution network, which brings the current to final consumers, extends over 1.2 million kilometers, equivalent to about three times the land-long distance.
An increasingly intelligent network
In recent years Also in Italy the network has evolved into a Smart Grid. Thousands of sensors constantly monitor cabins And linescollecting data in real time: in the E-Distribution Control Room in Rome, 3.5 gigabytes of data per minute transit. This allows one immediate diagnosis of faults and the possibility of quickly get up the areas affected by a blackout.
Thanks to a radial structure ea remote control systems, The interventions can be coordinated in a few minutes, reducing the unease For citizens and businesses.
The delicate balance of the network
Electricity must flow without interruption and maintain a stable frequency about 50 Hz. Variations above 0.3 Hz activate protection systems that interrupt the power to avoid more serious damage.
Also, since electricity cannot be stored on a large scale, All the energy produced must be consumed immediately. The operators must balance supply and demand in real time, activating reserve plants or importing energy from abroad, especially during periods of strong climatic stress as waves of heat or frost.
The new challenges: extreme climatic and cyber-siciness events
The blackout Iberian shows how vulnerable the electrical system is both at extreme physical events and to computer threats. The change climatic The frequency of storms, fires and abnormal snowfall that can damage critical infrastructures is increasing. In response, Italy has mobile teams and air vehicles for the quick restoration of the lines.
Parallel, The risk of cyberattacchi is growing. The recent investigation of the Spanish intelligence on the hypothesis of a attack hacker during the blackoutunderlines the urgency to protect strategic infrastructures. In Italy, groups like Enel’s Cert work every day to intercept and neutralize millions of IT threats.
Towards the future
The Italian electrical system is in continuous evolution And we see the effects inside our homes: the replacement of old meters with second generation devices will allow more efficient remote readings and one Intelligent management of consumption. The goal is one more resilient network, safe And flexiblecapable of facing the challenges of an increasingly digitized and interconnected world.
The events of these hours remind us that Electricity is certainly not a simply a sepice comfort, but an essential good whose protection requires innovationcollaboration and constant supervision.
