{"id":376852,"date":"2025-04-30T15:53:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T13:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376852"},"modified":"2025-04-30T15:53:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T13:53:18","slug":"spanish-blackouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376852","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Blackouts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve all read about that power cuts in Spain and Portugal yesterday. They are a reminder of just how reliant our societies have become on electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such power cuts are now much more serious affairs than merely \u201cthe lights going off\u201d, which I remember well from my younger days in the 1960s!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s far too soon to know what went wrong, but the chart below shows actually happened. At 12.30 pm, the grid was running normally at around 32 GW, with 19 GW of that coming from solar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gas power was virtually non existent at just 2 GW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirty minutes later the Spanish Peninsula grid had almost totally collapsed to 12 GW.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Data view<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Is it just a coincidence that the collapse occurred just at the time that solar power had maxed out for the day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many energy experts have rightly commented that, regardless of the actual cause of the problem, the almost total lack of spinning reserve, provided by thermal generators, made it much more difficult for grid operators to react in time to correct the situation. As Kathryn Porter commented yesterday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a low-inertia environment the frequency can change much faster. If you have had a significant grid fault in one area, or a cyber attack, or whatever it may be, the grid operators therefore have less time to react.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat can lead to cascading failures if you cannot get it under control quickly<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also worth noting that it was largely natural gas which enabled the grid to be put back into shape during the rest of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best analysis I have seen so far is from the New Zealand Energy website, which writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 12:35pm on Monday there was a massive country wide grid failure leading to a blackout in Spain that also affected parts of Portugal and France.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impacts were staggering. Everything stopped, and I mean everything. To the extent that farmers were having to deliver water to people stranded in the countryside when their trains unexpectedly ground to a halt. Its worth taking a look at the country wide chaos that ensued to appreciate how dependent modern societies are on the electrical network, there is mountains of it in the news.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what was the cause of the issue?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From what I can establish so far, this looks to be the result of a large frequency drop of 0.15Hz which would have created synchronisation issues across the entire network leading to wild oscillations as grid protection equipment switched out asynchronous loads and other parts of the network attempted to pick up the slack.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worth reading the full analysis here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One final thought \u2013 the EU regularly pats itself on the back, claiming that its integrated electricity network is able to address the regional imbalances of shortages and surpluses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That system was of no use at all to Spain this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve all read about that power cuts in Spain and Portugal yesterday. They are a reminder of just how reliant our societies have become on electricity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":376858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819118,691819869,691818267,691834835,691834836],"class_list":{"0":"post-376852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-france","9":"tag-power-cuts","10":"tag-solar-power","11":"tag-spain-and-portugal","12":"tag-spanish-peninsula-grid","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0be9e27ce-8b7f-406a-9d1d-80ca390aaba8.png?fit=1536%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1A2g","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":406834,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=406834","url_meta":{"origin":376852,"position":0},"title":"Spanish Blackout\u2013Interim Report\u00a0Published","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Factual Report has now been published by ENTSOE into the Spanish blackout in April:","rel":"","context":"In \"European power system\"","block_context":{"text":"European power system","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=european-power-system"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-15_49_25.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-15_49_25.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-15_49_25.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-15_49_25.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-15_49_25.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":425947,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425947","url_meta":{"origin":376852,"position":1},"title":"Macron says Spain’s mega-blackout was due to the country’s reliance on renewable energy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"French President Emmanuel Macron recently stated that Spain's major blackout in April 2025 was caused by the country's over-reliance on renewable energy. Note that Spain's actual renewable share is around 60% (from solar, wind, hydro, etc.), with nuclear at about 20%, though periods of very high renewable output (even approaching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"blackout in April 2025\"","block_context":{"text":"blackout in April 2025","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blackout-in-april-2025"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQOvFXlKA9juUao7uyQn58ksv8-EwuT2_OBET-6mUDzwcC23U1WcSerninjn41wBPhtyv2FLcn9LeyDS6RxuBCITBRh4DPXRjNIa2X-kR3cMghi09zt2D5xNb8OqDzD4-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C686&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQOvFXlKA9juUao7uyQn58ksv8-EwuT2_OBET-6mUDzwcC23U1WcSerninjn41wBPhtyv2FLcn9LeyDS6RxuBCITBRh4DPXRjNIa2X-kR3cMghi09zt2D5xNb8OqDzD4-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C686&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQOvFXlKA9juUao7uyQn58ksv8-EwuT2_OBET-6mUDzwcC23U1WcSerninjn41wBPhtyv2FLcn9LeyDS6RxuBCITBRh4DPXRjNIa2X-kR3cMghi09zt2D5xNb8OqDzD4-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C686&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQOvFXlKA9juUao7uyQn58ksv8-EwuT2_OBET-6mUDzwcC23U1WcSerninjn41wBPhtyv2FLcn9LeyDS6RxuBCITBRh4DPXRjNIa2X-kR3cMghi09zt2D5xNb8OqDzD4-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C686&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQOvFXlKA9juUao7uyQn58ksv8-EwuT2_OBET-6mUDzwcC23U1WcSerninjn41wBPhtyv2FLcn9LeyDS6RxuBCITBRh4DPXRjNIa2X-kR3cMghi09zt2D5xNb8OqDzD4-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C686&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":377090,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377090","url_meta":{"origin":376852,"position":2},"title":"Have The Intermittent Energy Blackouts Begun?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today there have been widespread electricity blackouts across Europe, beginning in Spain and Portugal in the early afternoon (local time), and then spreading to other countries including France, Andorra, Belgium and the Netherlands. Is this related to the increasing penetration of intermittent generation from wind and solar facilities?","rel":"","context":"In \"Andorra\"","block_context":{"text":"Andorra","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=andorra"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0droht-uns-ein-extremer-blackout-im-winter_857755995_1200x675_a08afa16a7ff2a5c5294c2d3ff1d6620.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0droht-uns-ein-extremer-blackout-im-winter_857755995_1200x675_a08afa16a7ff2a5c5294c2d3ff1d6620.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0droht-uns-ein-extremer-blackout-im-winter_857755995_1200x675_a08afa16a7ff2a5c5294c2d3ff1d6620.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0droht-uns-ein-extremer-blackout-im-winter_857755995_1200x675_a08afa16a7ff2a5c5294c2d3ff1d6620.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0droht-uns-ein-extremer-blackout-im-winter_857755995_1200x675_a08afa16a7ff2a5c5294c2d3ff1d6620.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":376861,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376861","url_meta":{"origin":376852,"position":3},"title":"Blackout in Spain to cost 2-4 billion Euro, likely due to solar plants \u2014 blind and biased ABC says \u201ccause is a mystery\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest news is that power has been restored in Spain, Portugal and parts of France, but the economic loss of a blackout that affected up to 55 million people for half a day is estimated at 2-4 billion Euro. Even Red Electrica, the Spanish Grid manager now says the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Blackout\"","block_context":{"text":"Blackout","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blackout"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01b074f6a-f92e-4477-a8b5-7616c987cf26.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01b074f6a-f92e-4477-a8b5-7616c987cf26.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01b074f6a-f92e-4477-a8b5-7616c987cf26.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01b074f6a-f92e-4477-a8b5-7616c987cf26.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":383725,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=383725","url_meta":{"origin":376852,"position":4},"title":"Spain\u2019s Impossible Dream Of \u2018Green\u2019 Electricity","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Thousands of wind turbines and millions of solar panels generated a massive blackout","rel":"","context":"In \"biggest blackout ever\"","block_context":{"text":"biggest blackout ever","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biggest-blackout-ever"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Blackout.webp?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Blackout.webp?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Blackout.webp?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Blackout.webp?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":376753,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376753","url_meta":{"origin":376852,"position":5},"title":"Congrats to Spain! Nation goes 100% renewable as of April 16th, 2025! \u2013 But\u2026Then Mass Blackouts Hit Spain, Portugal","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Concerning blackouts in Europe: Spain reportedly went 100% renewables \u2013 mostly solar and wind \u2013 as of April 16th.","rel":"","context":"In \"100% renewables\"","block_context":{"text":"100% renewables","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=100-renewables"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Blackouts-in-Bars-and-Restaurants.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Blackouts-in-Bars-and-Restaurants.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Blackouts-in-Bars-and-Restaurants.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Blackouts-in-Bars-and-Restaurants.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Blackouts-in-Bars-and-Restaurants.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=376852"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376860,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376852\/revisions\/376860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/376858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=376852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=376852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=376852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}