US EditionEurope’s first grid crisis may not be its last
- In late April, Spain's government declared an emergency after a blackout left more than 50 million people across Spain and Portugal without electricity for over 18 hours.
- The blackout resulted from systemic vulnerabilities caused by Spain's heavy reliance on intermittent renewable energy and the phase-out of dispatchable power like nuclear, coal, and gas plants.
- On the blackout day, solar power accounted for 55 percent and wind 11 percent of the grid’s supply, but lack of flexible backup and grid management failures led to instability spreading to Portugal and disrupting France’s connection.
- The grid operator ruled out cyberattack and pledged robust infrastructure investments to improve reliability, while Spain’s government launched an inquiry led by the green ministry without yet endorsing nuclear power expansion.
- The blackout highlighted risks in the accelerated green energy transition, prompting calls for diversified, dispatchable energy sources and grid resilience to prevent similar events across Europe and beyond.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Companies prepare a wave of lawsuits for blackout losses
Spain's electricity network is entrusted by law with the critical function of "ensure the continuity and security of electricity supply and the proper coordination of the production and transport system" of electricity and, however, the president of the government took off last Tuesday with severe statements that seemed to impute to private operators the ultimate responsibility for the episode that left Spain without electricity supply for betwe…
A Defense study also identifies Spain’s “insufficient” energy interconnections with Europe as a threat
One of the daily activities of the military is the study. They devote much of their time to the analysis of risks and threats to develop strategies and plans that avoid or mitigate them. One of them is Panorama 2025, a vision on how the world is from a geopolitical perspective that is elaborated annually by the Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies (IEEE) and that depends, ultimately, on the General Staff of Defense (EMAD). In this edition it i…
Is energy security a threat to Europe's AI ambitions?
This week's massive power outage in Spain and Portugal has raised questions over whether Europe's power grid is ready for a surge in demand, given the rapid pace of data centre deployment amid the rise of artificial intelligence. We take a closer look in this edition of Tech 24.
The American Conservative
UpstractSpain’s Big Blackout Shows the West Needs Nuclear
Foreign Affairs Spain’s Big Blackout Shows the West Needs Nuclear EU and U.S. leaders should learn the right lessons from the disaster and leave green zealotry behind. Credit: Anna Vanessa Garcia Naranjo/Shutterstock At 12:33 pm on Monday, a total blackout hit Iberia and bits of southern France and soon became Spain’s worst power outage ever, leaving fifty-five million people in the dark for twelve excruciating hours. Even for emergency rooms r…
Have The Intermittent Energy Blackouts Begun?
As Schellenberger points out, with just “a hair” more frequency variation it could have been far worse. Will that happen some time soon? I’m not going to pretend I know. But I do know that the electricity system in most of Europe and many U.S. states is in the hands of crazed fanatics who have no idea what they are doing. My own bet would be that there are many far worse blackouts to come, until this idiotic “net zero” thing is abandoned.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 43% of the sources are Center, 43% of the sources lean Right
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
Ownership
To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage
