EU power supply failure
15.1.2021
Priority question for written answer P-000225/2021
to the Council
Rule 138
Claudia Gamon (Renew), Morten Petersen (Renew)
On Friday 8 January 2021, a power supply failure that is suspected to have originated in Romania disrupted the Continental Europe Synchronous Area. Its frequency dropped to 48.75 Hz (target frequency 50Hz), which caused the South-East area to be separated from the rest of the grid. This disruption and a lack of operating reserves in France nearly caused a Europe-wide blackout. Luckily, the automatic activation of power stations throughout Europe and the automatic initiation of contracted load shedding in Italy (1000 MW) and France (1300 MW) kept the grid stable and prevented a blackout. This incident shows the fragility of the grid and the real possibility of a Europe-wide blackout, which we need to prevent.
- 1.Does the Council have more detailed information on the cause of the disruption in the Continental Europe Synchronous Area of 8 January 2021?
- 2.What conclusions has it drawn from the incident?
- 3.How does it plan to prevent similar incidents in the future?