Italian blackout sparked by insufficient control

September's power failure plunged most of Italy into darkness for hours Keystone

A Swiss investigation into last September’s crippling blackout in Italy has pointed to inadequate regulation of the European electricity market.

The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (FOE) also said Swiss suppliers were slow to react to the Italian breakdown.

The FOE on Tuesday admitted that the Italian power outage was triggered by the rupture of a power line at the Lukmanier pass in central Switzerland.

But it said this had been the result of an underlying lack of regulation in the European electricity market, with electricity suppliers failing to take into account the technical limitations of the power grid.

“There is clearly a need for binding regulations,” the FOE report stated.

Investigators from the FOE also reiterated claims by the Swiss grid operator, Etrans, that the Italian operator was slow to react to a Swiss request to reduce electricity imports.

The slow response, coupled with a second line failure in San Bernadino, eventually led to the grid overload that cut Italy off from the rest of the European power network on September 28.

The FOE findings come just weeks after a report by the European-wide Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity said the outage could have been avoided if the Swiss responded more quickly.

Oversupply

When the power failure occured, Italy was importing around 24 per cent of its electricity requirements.

On September 28, Switzerland was supplying 550 megawatts more power to Italy than had been agreed, leaving operators unable to restore power after the breakdown on the Lukmanier line, the report said.

Swiss oversupply to Italy had been a trend for some time, it added.

The FOE blamed the enormous discrepancy between agreed limits and actual supplies on Italian and the French network operators.

These did not take security requirements enough into account when allocating electricity capacity quotas to other European countries.

New measures

The FOE said there was an urgent need for binding regulations on cross-border electricity trading.

It welcomed new European Union rules due to come into effect on July 1, 2004, but said a repeat of the Italian blackout could only be prevented if these regulations were implemented throughout Europe.

“Switzerland urgently needs a strong regulatory authority that is able to regulate the market as an equal partner together with [other European] regulators,” the FOE said.

The report also said Swiss network operators should set up an independent body to manage the transport of electricity.

Steps are already underway to safeguard Switzerland’s electricity supply and its participation in the European power market. Temporary legislation to ensure a smooth transition towards a totally reorganised electricity market is under consideration.

A new law governing the Swiss electricity market is also being drafted and is due to be discussed in parliament in the second half of 2004. Voters rejected legislation that would have freed up the market in September 2002.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Italy suffered from a massive blackout on September 28, depriving most of the country of electricity.
The Italians were importing about 24 per cent of their electricity at the time.
The cut was blamed on the failure of two power lines in Switzerland, which led to the shutdown of all power imports in Italy.

In brief

The Federal Office of Electricity says the grid overload that led to the Italian power failure could have been avoided with tighter European-wide regulations.

The FOE also said the Swiss network operator, Etrans, reacted correctly to the emergency, while the Italians failed to act in time.

The FOE’s findings partially contradict those of the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity, which blamed the Swiss for the blackout.