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A significant voltage spike that triggered a large-scale electrical failure across Spain and Portugal has been identified as the "most critical" electrical incident in European nations during the past 20 years, and represents a pioneering situation of its category, according to a recently published investigation.

Damian Cortinas of the group of electrical system controllers stated that this particular incident marked the initial documented blackout to be directly caused by excessive voltage, which occurs when excessive power voltage gathers within a grid.

"This is new territory," the official stated, adding that the group's role was "not to apportion blame to any party" regarding the underlying cause.

The spring's outage produced major chaos for nearly a day when it plunged numerous zones into blackout conditions, terminating internet and telephone connections and stopping transportation systems.

Widespread Effects

The power outage influenced large parts of the Spanish territory and Portuguese nation, and temporarily impacted southwestern France.

The study, published on Friday, concentrated on the status of the electrical networks on the day of the blackout and the progression of incidents preceding it.

Systemic Failures

A series of "cascading overvoltages" - described as an increase in the network electrical pressure surpassing the standard level - was determined to be the key factor behind the blackout, the investigation concluded.

Overvoltage can be caused by increases in networks due to oversupply or weather events, or when protective equipment are inadequate.

Per the study, computerized safety protocols were initiated but could not prevent the electrical network from failing.

Multiple Investigations

The study comes after multiple independent inquiries and reports by the Spain's administration, as well as energy corporations. The oversight organization and parliament members are also performing separate investigations.

The national authorities maintains that the association's findings validates its own findings.

The minister for energy transition declared that it was "entirely consistent" with the outcomes of an examination it commissioned which wrapped up in June that each of the primary network operator and commercial energy firms were at fault.

Diverging Accounts

Each of the key system controller and the commercial companies have insisted that they were not to blame. The parent company has assigned responsibility for the outage on some conventional energy facilities' shortcoming to help preserve proper electrical levels.

Local power providers said it was caused by deficient strategy from grid operators.

Examination Challenges

The study also mentioned that certain crucial information was absent and that "acquiring thorough, reliable details proved extremely difficult for this examination".

A conclusive study, to be released in the beginning period of the following year, will examine the underlying reasons of the voltage surge and the measures employed to regulate voltage in the grid.

Political Debate

The blackout sparked a extensive controversy that entered the governmental sphere about Spain's energy model.

The competing parties proposed that an expanding commitment on green electricity, championed by the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez, could have been a relevant element in generating the outage and the country's decreasing supply of nuclear electricity meant a dependable back-up was inaccessible.

The authorities completely dismissed these theories and the recent study was prudent to stay impartial when it came to the causes of April's unprecedented blackout.

Instant Effects

The electrical failure compelled Madrid Open Tennis managers to suspend a match partially completed the contest.

Spain's nuclear power plants immediately shut down when the blackout struck, and the fuel processing entity announced it suspended activities at its fuel processing plants.

Civil Disruption

Structures were thrown into powerless state, while communication tools and traffic lights stopped working. Crowds snaked around city blocks and digital purchases failed, forcing people to line up for money and cram on to public transportation as different mobility options were inoperative.

First responders were called to 286 buildings to extricate people stuck in lifts in the capital area and medical facilities initiated emergency plans, stopping standard operations.