Ceuta suffers citywide blackout of about an hour after substation fault

What set off the outage

Endesa links the failure to a fault in the 220/132 kV yard of the Algeciras substation in San Roque, Cádiz, which is run by Red Eléctrica de España (REE). The disturbance spread through the distribution grid on the Spanish mainland and across the 132 kV cable that connects the peninsula to Ceuta. Protective systems then reacted in both the distribution network and the Ceuta Diesel Power Station, which led to the shedding of generation group 11 and the disconnection of seven medium-voltage lines. Government of Ceuta sources, speaking to EFE, described the same chain from the city side: group 11, which distributes power in the city centre, dropped and pulled the rest of the system down with it. The result was what local sources called 'zero energy', with no electricity reaching the city at all.

Timeline of the outage and restoration

Sources give slightly different start times. Europa Press put the start around 09:30, Endesa and REE recorded 09:39, and Government of Ceuta sources gave about 09:45. Restoration was staggered. Line 3 returned at 09:56 and line 11 at 09:58, followed by line 2 at 10:04, line 12 at 10:09 and line 13 at 10:14. Line 4 came back at 10:28 and line 5 at 10:34, the last of the seven lines. Endesa said that completed restoration for all affected customers after 55 minutes. REE reported at 10:45 that more than 90% of supply had returned, which it put at 25 MW of the 27 MW planned. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition said supply was practically restored by around 10:30, and some areas lost power again shortly after reconnection.

Impact on the city

The outage reached every neighbourhood in Ceuta. The desalination plant was the only exception, because it kept running on its own generators. The Hospital Universitario de Ceuta switched to its emergency generating system. According to INGESA, the hospital has two diesel generators designed to take over whenever supply is interrupted. Routine activity in health centres was also disrupted. Most businesses could not open their doors because of the lack of light, which kept shops in the city centre closed during the recovery.

Investigations and response

Endesa and REE have both opened investigations, and the cause of the group 11 failure has not been confirmed in the reporting. REE posted on X while the work was under way and said that the causes were being investigated.

The causes are being investigated, and more than 70% of the service has already been restored in the autonomous city.

Sara Aagesen, Spain's vice president and minister for the ecological transition, has been in contact with the Ceuta authorities, Endesa and REE, according to the reporting. The operators are still working to resolve the faults recorded in the emergency generating groups.