Last Saturday, a total blackout left more than 73,600 people without electricity in Lanzarote. Later, it caused a shutdown of the desalination plants and brought with it cuts in the supply of drinking water in practically the entire island, with the exception of the tourist towns of Costa Teguise and Puerto del Carmen. The situation forced the activation of the Canary Islands Emergency Plan (PLATECA) in pre-alert mode to ensure collaboration between institutions, as well as the pre-alert in the Lanzarote Island Emergency Plan (PEIN).
When did it start? The total blackout began at 05:44 on Saturday morning at the Mácher substation. An incident was detected in the 66-kilovolt electrical grid. Initially, it affected 51,703 service customers. Four minutes later, a second incident spread to the substations of San Bartolomé and Punta Grande, and the number of affected people continued to grow.
How many people were affected? Since the impact is counted by electricity contracts, the exact number of people affected cannot be determined, only the number of people with electricity contracts who were harmed. A total of 73,600 customers suffered the interruption of supply.
At what time was the grid restored? The energy supply on the grid was restored at 8:00 in the morning, after two hours and a quarter of interruption. Although in some towns the problems with the electricity supply were resolved faster than in others.
Which services were affected? The total blackout caused a serious problem with the supply of drinking water on the island after forcing the restart of the desalination plants. It was not until 18:45 on Sunday afternoon that the public company managing the integral water cycle in Lanzarote, Aguas de Lanzarote y La Graciosa, reported that the system was operational again, but with scheduled cuts and pressure anomalies.
Which companies are responsible for energy in Lanzarote? Energy management in Lanzarote is carried out by two different companies. On one hand, the company responsible for the electrical system, which must supervise, coordinate, and control the grid, is Red Eléctrica, a company with public and private participation. On the other hand, the private company Endesa is the company responsible for distributing electrical energy throughout the island.
For the moment, there is an open investigation, both at Endesa and Red Eléctrica, to detect where in the system the incident that caused the electrical blackout in Lanzarote occurred.
The Directorate General of Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands has demanded that both companies transfer "all information" about what happened. Meanwhile, the Canarian president linked the Lanzarote blackout to the obsolescence of the electrical system on the islands.
The technical reports that both companies draft will serve to clarify the reasons behind the weekend's electrical blackout.
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