Government targets two power plants for black start function

The government wants to include the Baixo Sabor and Alqueva power stations in the “black start” function, i.e. autonomous start-up of the electricity system, to speed up the restoration of power in the event of a situation like Monday’s. At the end of today’s cabinet meeting, the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, said that the government had “taken the decision to extend the Tapada do Outeiro power station “black start” function until March 2026”, and will now “activate the mechanisms for this extension to run until 2030”.

“Meanwhile, we are deepening the whole procedure with a view to making it possible for more power stations, particularly Baixo Sabor and Alqueva, to be included in the “black start” function,” he said.

“If there’s one conclusion we can already draw, it’s that the Tapada do Outeiro and Castelo de Bode power stations are insufficient to enable the system to restart in a crisis situation like we experienced yesterday [Monday]. Insufficient from the point of view of speed,” he explained.

These two power stations were used on Monday to start the initial service.

“We know that they are sufficient from the point of view of efficiency, which is why we have the situation restored,” he emphasised, stressing that the government’s understanding is that there needs to be “a mechanism to make the ability to recover and overcome a circumstance” like Monday’s blackout even quicker, faster and more efficient.