By Sergio Goncalves
LISBON (Reuters) -The Portuguese government plans to invest up to 400 million euros ($466 million) to improve grid management and boost battery storage following a massive blackout across Spain and Portugal in April.
Energy Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said on Monday about 137 million euros of the investment would go towards improving the operational and control capacity of the electricity grid to help it deal with complex intermittent renewable power sources such as wind and solar.
The Spanish government said in a report last month that grid operator Redeia had miscalculated the correct mix of energy in the system on April 28, but also blamed some thermal power plants using coal, gas and nuclear, for failing to help maintain an appropriate voltage level.
A surge in voltage triggered a cascade of power plant disconnections, leading to the outage that spread to Portugal, which was importing electricity at the time.
Portuguese grid operator REN will install a so-called shunt device to accurately measure electrical current and prevent overloads as well as equipment to regulate voltage, improve power system stability and ensure consistent energy delivery, according to the plan.
Carvalho said that unlike in the past, when thermal power plants helped grid management with their stable supply, more renewable sources mean more intermittent and decentralised output which is harder to manage.
“We have to make our grid more secure, digital and modern … to support this new, more complex energy production model,” she told a press conference, adding that the government would prepare a decree to speed up implementation of the investments.
She also said the planned storage increase aimed to prevent a shutdown of the country, providing greater energy autonomy to critical infrastructure such as hospitals, fire departments, security forces, and other key public administration services.
Portugal has only about 13 megawatts of battery storage capacity, and the goal is to reach 750 megawatts, although no timetable has been set yet. According to the latest daily data from REN, electricity consumption in Portugal stood at 115 GWh on June 20.
($1 = 0.8581 euros)
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
