Spanish government rules out cyberattack behind massive blackout in April

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Spanish government on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack behind the massive blackout in April, with an investigation report presented to the Council of Ministers.

Spain's Energy Minister Sara Aagesen submitted a report to the Council of Ministers, investigating the possible causes of the massive blackout that took place in Spain and Portugal on April 28, according to broadcaster RTVE.

The investigative report said that there was "no evidence of a cyberattack" behind the blackout but revealed vulnerabilities and shortcomings in security measures unrelated to the incident.

According to Aagesen, the blackout occurred with "multifactorial" origins and there was not enough capacity to regulate voltage.

She also attributed the problem to “poor planning” by the system operator, Red Electrica, and to the generating companies, underlining that in some cases they disconnected "improperly" despite being “financially” compensated to carry out this task.

“There was a lack of voltage control capacity, either because it was not sufficiently programmed or because those that were programmed did not adequately provide what the standard required. Or a combination of both. What we can say for sure is that it was not because there was a shortage in the country; there was sufficient generation capacity available to respond,” the energy minister added.