Bid to overhaul Europe power grid

A serious incident on the continental European electricity network on 4 November 2006 led to blackouts over most of the system. The precise reasons why this happened were to be examined by the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) and more information is expected to be provided soon.

Italy's prime minister, Romano Prodi said Europe needs a central power authority to prevent the kind of blackouts that left swathes of West Europe without energy. He said there was a 'contradiction' in having a unified power network but no central authority.

European Commission: Press Release: IP/06/1514: Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs reacts to Saturday's blackouts http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1514&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity" (UCTE) http://www.ucte.org/

UCTE: Press Release, 5.11.06: First facts about the system disturbance on 4 November http://www.cigre-uk.org/Technicalactivities_files/UCTE_serious_incident.pdf

European Transmission System Operators (ETSO) http://www.etso-net.org/

BBC News, 6.11.06: EU calls for full power cut probe http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6120212.stm

BBC News, 6.11.06: Q&A: Europe's power blackout http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6121166.stm

E.ON http://www.eon.com/en/index.jsp

E.ON: Press Release, 15.11.06: Human error at control center chiefly responsible for power outage on 4 November http://www.eon-netz.com/frameset_german/news/news_release/pm_neu/press_detail_neu.php?press_id=105485

European Commission: Press Release: IP/06/1839: ¿Blackout last November calls for increased cooperation between TSOs¿, says Commissioner Piebalgs http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1839&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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