EU Commission deplores fake news on power outage in Spain, Portugal
Brussels (dpa) – The European Commission on Tuesday deplored a fake news article with a made-up quote by its head Ursula von der Leyen wrongly linking the major power outage in Spain and Portugal to an attack.
“On that basis, we can really see how far manipulation of information can go and what a negative impact it can [have],” a commission spokeswoman said.
“There were reactions, thinking that there had been a deliberate attack, which is obviously very bad and can have very serious consequences,” she added.
The commission also dismissed speculation that a high share of renewable energy led to the blackout.
“The Spanish and Portuguese operators, they are well experienced in handling high volumes of renewable generation in their electricity systems,” another commission spokeswoman said.
She added that the European Union had rules in place to ensure “the balancing of the electricity system and its capacity … to absorb renewable generation.” (April 29)
