Blackout puts focus on questions over power resilience

The GSD said Gibraltar’s latest blackout raised serious questions about repeated assurances from the Gibraltar Government over the resilience, reliability and security of the Rock’s electricity infrastructure.

In a statement, the Opposition said the outage had come despite recent public reassurances that the £16.5m Battery Energy Storage System would strengthen the network and help ensure continuity of supply in the event of failures at the power station.

It said residents and businesses had been told significant investment had been made to safeguard against the kind of disruption experienced on Thursday night.

The party said the blackout had disrupted daily life for thousands of residents, affected businesses during a busy evening trading period, interrupted major events and reportedly resulted in flight diversions to Malaga.

Retailers, restaurants, bars and other businesses were left counting the cost, it said.

The GSD also highlighted the timing of the incident, which coincided with the KPMG eSummit while Gibraltar’s gaming and technology sectors were showcasing the Rock to international businesses, investors and prospective newcomers.

The Opposition said the outage had created a stark contrast between official rhetoric and the reality experienced by residents, businesses and visitors.

The GSD said this was especially significant given repeated references in recent days to the “certainty” that would flow from the recently announced UK-EU treaty agreement.

It said certainty had to be reflected in the ability to deliver reliable public services and resilient infrastructure.

The GSD said the public was entitled to ask how, after a project costing taxpayers well over £100m when the power station, LNG storage and associated infrastructure were taken into account, Gibraltar continued to experience failures of this nature.

The party called for a full explanation of what happened, whether the BESS system operated as intended, what safeguards failed and what steps would now be taken to prevent a recurrence.

The GSD was also critical of the response from the Minister for Health, Care and Business, Gemma Arias Vasquez, saying comments about humility made in a recent GBC interview rang hollow in the aftermath of the outage.

The statement said residents had been left without power, businesses had lost trade, events had been disrupted and Gibraltar’s reputation had suffered at a key moment.

“The absence of a clear apology and a demonstration of empathy towards those affected has been almost as remarkable as the outage itself,” said Craig Sacarello, the GSD’s shadow minister with responsibility for utilities.

“Leadership demands accountability, humility and a willingness to accept responsibility when things go wrong.”

“The Government cannot continue to make sweeping claims about resilience, reliability and certainty while failing to explain why these incidents continue to occur.”

“The people of Gibraltar deserve answers, accountability and the confidence that lessons will finally be learned from yet another costly failure.”