Major Power Blackout in Spain and Portugal Signals Uncertain Future for Renewables

May 3—On April 16, Spain’s electrical grid ran 100% on renewables for the first weekday ever—an achievement widely celebrated by the global media. No oil, coal, or natural gas was used for power generation.

Just days later, on April 21, Spain reported a record-breaking solar energy output, meeting 78.6% of demand and comprising 61.5% of the grid mix.

Then, on April 28, Spain’s entire electrical grid suddenly failed, triggering a cascading blackout that took Portugal’s national grid down with it. Authorities have yet to provide a definitive explanation for the failure.

The Spanish Energy Ministry reported that at approximately 10:33 GMT, in a span of just five seconds, generated electricity dropped by 15 GW, triggering oscillations that ultimately led to a complete shutdown. Full restoration of the system took nearly 24 hours.

The Royal Bank of Canada investment bank estimated the economic cost of the blackout between €2.25 billion and €4.5 billion, attributing blame to Spain’s lack of infrastructure investment in a system heavily dependent on solar power with insufficient battery storage.

Spain currently has only 60 MW of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity—just 0.3% of what would be required in case of a solar failure. By comparison, the U.K. and Italy have 5.6 GW and 1 GW of storage capacity, respectively, despite similar projected storage needs.

European Council President Antonio Costa and Portugal’s Prime Minister Luís Montenegro offered no clear answers but confirmed no signs of cyberattack. Portugal’s grid operator REN vaguely cited a “fault in the Spanish electricity grid” linked to a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” triggered by extreme temperature variations.

Both REN and Spain’s power grid operator Red Eléctrica reported that a “strong oscillation in the electrical network” led Spain’s grid to disconnect from the broader European system.

The late physical economist Lyndon LaRouche predicted in the 1980s that relying on low-energy flux-density systems like wind and solar for primary power generation was either incompetence, madness, or both.