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  • 🌱 Did Renewable Energy Trigger Spain’s Blackout? A Closer Look at the Grid ⚠️🔌

🌱 Did Renewable Energy Trigger Spain’s Blackout? A Closer Look at the Grid ⚠️🔌

Explore the April 28 blackout in Spain and Portugal. Did renewable energy play a role? Discover the causes, expert insights, and the future of grid resilience.

Author

Green Glow
April 30, 2025

On April 28, 2025, a sudden and widespread power outage swept across Spain, Portugal, and parts of France, disrupting transportation, industrial operations, and everyday life in major cities like Madrid, Lisbon, and Barcelona. As the Iberian Peninsula scrambled to recover, questions quickly arose: Was renewable energy to blame? Or did the blackout reveal deeper challenges in managing modern energy systems?

This article examines what happened, how renewable energy may have played a role, and what this means for the future of clean energy and grid resilience.

Table of Contents

What Happened on April 28?

At approximately 12:33 p.m. local time, the power across much of mainland Spain and Portugal abruptly failed. Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) referred to the event as “el cero” – the zero – indicating a near-total loss of power across the peninsula. The blackout paralyzed traffic lights, halted trains, and temporarily shut down production in automotive and chemical industries.

Within 24 hours, 99.95% of power had been restored, but the disruption underscored a troubling vulnerability in the region’s energy infrastructure.

The Role of Renewable Energy: Intermittency vs. Instability

High Renewable Penetration at the Time

At the time of the outage, solar energy accounted for 60.24% of Spain's electricity, with another 10.6% coming from wind, according to data from ElectricityMaps. That means over 70% of the active energy supply came from intermittent renewables dependent on sunlight and wind speed.

Other sources included:

  • Hydro (10.11%)

  • Nuclear (9.69%)

  • Natural gas (6.76%)

  • Biomass (1.61%)

Spain was also exporting electricity:

  • 7.5% to Portugal

  • 2.57% to France

  • 2.09% to Morocco

  • 8.65% was stored in hydro reservoirs

Such an energy mix highlights Spain’s commitment to a cleaner grid—but also its reliance on weather-driven sources.

Could Renewables Have Caused the Blackout?

While renewable energy sources can introduce instability when not properly balanced with dispatchable generation (like gas or hydro), experts caution against directly blaming green energy.

Portuguese grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) pointed to a “significant voltage fluctuation” originating from the Spanish grid. This fluctuation, while not uncommon, cascaded through Portugal’s system during an import phase—raising the stakes and the scale of the blackout.

Critically, no single point of failure or cyberattack has been confirmed. Instead, experts suspect a complex interplay of high renewable penetration, grid export activity, and potentially fast weather shifts (like cloud cover or sudden wind drops) that disrupted voltage stability.

A Fragile Web: Interconnected Grids and Cross-Border Risk

The Iberian blackout is a powerful example of how interconnected grids, while efficient for sharing resources, can also propagate issues across borders. Portugal’s energy system was affected not by internal mismanagement, but by a disturbance in Spain—its energy provider at the time.

Parts of southern France also experienced blackouts, suggesting the ripple effect extended beyond the two main countries. The event highlights the urgent need for regional coordination, not just national preparedness.

How Resilient Is the Modern Grid?

After the outage, natural gas stepped in to restore stability, supplying over 50% of Spain’s electricity by 6 a.m. on April 29. The rapid response showcased the importance of baseload backup power in renewable-rich systems.

Energy resilience expert Andrew Gordon from Eaton remarked that the incident should serve as a wake-up call:

“Even for those unaffected, this should be a wake-up call to make sure they are investing in the right technologies that can safeguard them from such costly and disruptive situations.”

His warning applies not only to grid operators but also to businesses and manufacturers, many of whom lack sufficient backup energy systems.

What This Means for the Future of Renewable Energy

The April blackout does not signal the failure of renewable energy—but it does emphasize the challenges of managing a clean grid without sufficient flexibility, forecasting, and backup.

Key Takeaways:

  • Diversity matters: Spain’s high renewable ratio is impressive, but clean energy still needs strong backup (e.g., hydro, gas, battery storage) to handle fluctuations.

  • Forecasting and digital control: As renewables grow, so must real-time grid balancing tools.

  • Regional coordination: Interconnected grids must plan for shared disruptions—not just shared resources.

  • Business readiness: Companies need contingency power systems to remain operational during grid instability.

Conclusion

While renewable energy did not directly cause Spain and Portugal’s blackout, the incident underscores the complexity of managing intermittent power at scale. It’s a cautionary tale for all nations racing toward net zero: the future is green, but it must also be resilient.

Grid modernization, smarter forecasting, flexible infrastructure, and integrated regional planning will be essential to ensuring the lights stay on—no matter how the wind blows or the sun shines.

FAQs

What caused the blackout in Spain and Portugal on April 28, 2025?

The power outage was primarily caused by a significant voltage fluctuation in Spain’s electricity grid. While the exact trigger is unclear, rapid shifts in energy supply and demand, high renewable penetration, and cross-border electricity flows all played a role.

Was renewable energy responsible for the blackout?

Not directly. While over 70% of power at the time came from solar and wind—both intermittent sources—experts believe the outage was due to a combination of grid instability and systemic stress, not a failure of renewables alone.

How did the blackout affect Portugal and France?

Portugal, importing energy from Spain at the time, experienced widespread outages. Parts of southern France were also impacted due to the interconnected European grid system.

How did Spain recover power so quickly?

By the morning of April 29, 99.95% of electricity demand was restored. Spain’s reliance on flexible sources like natural gas and rapid emergency procedures enabled a swift recovery.

What does this mean for the future of renewable energy?

The event highlights the need for robust grid infrastructure, advanced forecasting, energy storage, and diversified backup systems to ensure resilience as countries scale up renewables.

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