By Nikolaus J. Kurmayer

( EurActiv ) — The catastrophic grid failure that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill on 28 April was wholly unprecedented, according to a ‘factual’ report from grid operators – who, after five months probing the causes of the blackout, have shied away from singling out any of the various actors involved in making it one of Europe’s worst-ever.

The incident was the worst power system failure in Europe in over 20 years and the “first of its kind” in the world, said Damian Cortinas, who chairs the European transmission system operators body Entso-E, while presenting the report in Brussels on Friday.

In the past, blackouts have typically been caused by a sharp drop in voltage, but Spain’s grid appears to have collapsed because of too much of a good thin

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