“What India Can Learn from the Iberian Blackout: The Case for Multi-Level PPCs & Enforced IBR Settings”

On April 28, 2025, the Iberian Peninsula suffered a massive blackout, affecting over 6 million people across Spain and Portugal. 

The Root Cause—

 The blackout was not caused by a single failure but rather a chain of vulnerabilities across both the physical grid and digital systems:

1. Voltage Instability (Phase 0): Unusual voltage fluctuations were observed in the weeks and hours prior. Events on April 22 and 24 had already shown signs of instability.

2. System Oscillations (Phase 1): Between 12:00 and 12:30 PM, two significant oscillations occurred (at 12:03 and 12:19) in both frequency and voltage. These originated from interactions between Iberian and Central European grids and were exacerbated by low system damping.

3. Overvoltage & Generation Loss (Phase 2): At 12:32 PM, voltage across Spain began rising sharply due to reduced reactive power absorption and inflexible generation. This triggered mass disconnection of renewable generation, including smaller distributed systems.

4. Grid Collapse (Phase 3): By 12:33:30 PM, the system could no longer maintain voltage stability, and the entire Iberian Peninsula collapsed to zero voltage.

5. Recovery (Phase 4): REE and Portuguese operator REN began stepwise grid re-energization, restoring most of the load within 19 hours.

A lack of coordinated dynamic voltage control from generating plants, which failed to respond in time to a grid disturbance.

This event is a wake-up call for every country transitioning to high renewable energy penetration. And India is no exception.

The Indian Solution: Multi-Level PPCs in Auto Mode + Enforced IBR Settings

To prevent a similar grid disturbance in India, we must adopt the below -

Plant-Level PPCs—ensuring each IBR responds locally to grid voltage/frequency with correct droop, ramp, and logic

Polling Substation PPCs—coordinating VAR/active power dispatch across clusters of plants, avoiding control conflict

Grid Substation PPCs—real-time interface with SLDCs and EMS, enabling area-wide frequency and reactive control

Auto Mode Operation—No manual toggling. Controllers must always be live and responsive at the plant, PSS,

Compliance Mandate (CON 4)—Enforce and validate inverter settings at commissioning:

1. LVRT & HVRT settings to be enabled

2. FRT settings to be enabled

3. Settings to match at least the PSCAD model, which is submitted for CON 4 during connectivity.

India’s Forward Steps (Already in Motion by Government and Regulatory bodies)

India is already showing strong leadership with proactive steps:

1. BESS identification and installations underway at multiple renewable hubs

2. PSS and GSS-level integration of energy storage for grid-forming support

3. Mandating 10% retrofit BESS deployments for new and old IBR plants in select zones

4. IEGC 2023 Draft introduces LVRT, HVRT, droop, and ride-through standards aligned with global best practices

5. PPC + EMS rollout accelerating across SECI and NTPC-connected solar parks.

What More Can Be Done?

1. Mandate multi-layer PPC architecture with interoperability

2. Certify and register all field-validated UDM models of PPCs and IBRs

3. Monitor real-time dynamic V-Q and F-P response from control centers

4. Integrate BESS not just as backup but as active grid participants with FFR and Q-support

5. Create a unified National Grid Stability Dashboard for live IBR compliance tracking

Let’s lead the future by example.

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