{"id":379008,"date":"2025-05-20T19:01:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379008"},"modified":"2025-05-20T19:01:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:01:39","slug":"no-one-knows-what-caused-the-blackout-but-spain-is-using-more-gas-and-nukes-and-less-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379008","title":{"rendered":"No one knows what caused the Blackout but Spain is using more gas and nukes and less solar\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From JoNova<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jo Nova<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The cause of the mysterious oscillations and the big Iberian blackout is still a mystery, and it will take six months before the world has forgotten, sorry, I mean before the official report is finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, baffled Spanish grid managers, who couldn\u2019t possibly speculate on the cause, have cranked up the nuclear power and the gas, and reduced solar generation for no reason in particular. It\u2019s all very odd, because gas is more expensive, and sun is free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister accidentally called this \u201cStrengthened Mode\u201d . (Didn\u2019t they used to call it pollution?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lest we forget \u2014 in the hours before the crash, solar power was providing 60% of the energy, while nuclear power was covering 11%, and gas was just 3%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net Zero Spain leans on Nuclear, Gas to keep the lights on after historic Blackout<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By Oliver JJ Lane, Breitbart<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain is running its national power grid in \u201cstrengthened mode\u201d, using more nuclear and natural gas in place of the renewables it vaunted before last month\u2019s historic blackout, but still hasn\u2019t said what started the outage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomberg energy industry journalist Javier Blas<\/a>, who is Spanish, further notes in a digest<\/a> of Aagesen\u2019s remarks that she also said \u2014 without elaboration \u2014 in her address to Parliament that the grid operator was now running the system in \u201cstrengthened mode\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people deserve no hypotheses, says the Minister (covering her #$%)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Minister for Ecological Transition and Energy Sara Aagesen] said: \u201cThe government is working with rigour and not making hypotheses, because that is what the Spanish people deserve. Rigour and truth\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per the latest data, in recent days, more reliable traditional generation is being used more, with nuclear responsible for between 14 and 23 percent, and natural gas-fired plants accounting for up to 25 percent at times.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s just bad luck, you know, that these mysterious oscillations hit Spain. And thus, they have to use CCGT gas turbines for a while, because they can \u201cadjust more promptly to mysterious oscillations\u201d. It\u2019s just a quirk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain Boosts Costlier Gas Power to Secure Grid After Blackout<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By Thomas Gualtieri<\/a>, Bloomberg<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, energy regulator CNMC head Cani Fernandez told lawmakers that the system is currently working with more expensive backup mechanisms that would adjust more promptly to unwanted oscillations<\/strong>. That\u2019s a good description of CCGTs versus solar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt seems that Red Electrica wants to have tight control over the generation mix to stabilize it\u201d said Javier Pamos, an analyst at Aurora Energy Research<\/a>. \u201cCombined-cycle plants are being included in it even though there are hours of the day when they wouldn\u2019t be necessary as renewable production is enough to cover demand<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The output of combined-cycle gas turbines, a more steady generation technology than solar, jumped 37% in the two weeks after the outage, compared with the two weeks prior, data from power grid operator Red Electrica<\/a> show. Their average share of Spain\u2019s power mix increased to 18% from about 12%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 15th the Spanish Government claimed that there were mysterious oscillations right across the continent:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spanish government provides further details in blackout update<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

PV-Magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two oscillations in the system variables detected at 12:03 pm were observed, lasting five minutes, during which strong fluctuations in voltage and frequency occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second, at 12:19 pm, lasted three minutes. This, according to Aagesen, \u201cis more common within the European system, comes from the center-east, and oscillates with respect to the European synchronous system, which, in turn, oscillates with respect to Turkey. The system operator acted to dampen these oscillations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After these oscillations, demand was 25,184 MW at 12:30 pm, at which time there was 3 GW of pumping.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Portugal is now blaming France, saying that because <\/a>France runs on nuclear power it\u2019s been very slack about building interconnectors to Spain. The unhappy Iberians have said for years that Paris was \u201cresisting\u201d the flow of cheap (but unreliable) energy \u201cto protect its own nuclear power plants and maintain its control over the European energy market.\u201d (Which, of course, it was.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France is 68% nuclear powered, and the last thing they\u2019d want is surges of useless solar and wind power that the nuclear plants would have to dance around. Unreliable solar and wind generators don\u2019t provide France with anything it doesn\u2019t already have, but the surges would make French nuclear plants operate in a less efficient, more expensive mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU set a target of 10% electricity swaps between countries by 2020, but at the moment it\u2019s only 3% between Spain and France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portugal Scapegoats France After Iberian Blackout<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By Javier Villamor, European Conservative<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

France\u2019s electricity grid operator (RTE) denies any obstruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portugal\u2019s Energy Minister, Maria da Gra\u00e7a Carvalho, has not hesitated to describe the lack of interconnections with France as a direct barrier to the European single market. According to Lisbon, systematic delays by the French government in expanding electricity infrastructure across the Pyrenees have contributed to the energy isolation of both Spain and Portugal, multiplying the impact of the recent system collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portugal has announced that it will take the case to the European Commission, requesting formal intervention against France for violating the principles of the EU\u2019s internal energy market. The EU had set a target for member states to have electricity import capacity equal to 10% of national generation by 2020 and 15% by 2030. However, the connection between Spain and France barely exceeds 3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the Spanish and Portuguese complaints are undoubtedly true  \u2014 naughty France.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If only the Iberians had been selling something France actually wanted, it wouldn\u2019t be so hard to make them build the interconnectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image by Greg Montani<\/a> from Pixabay.<\/a>   |  Tunnel by Jo Nova<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The cause of the mysterious oscillations and the big Iberian blackout is still a mystery, and it will take six months before the world has forgotten, sorry, I mean before the official report is finished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":379016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_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":[691835212,691818155,691835214,691835211,691818206,691818267,691835213],"class_list":["post-379008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-big-iberian-blackout","tag-gas","tag-grid-operator","tag-mysterious-oscillations","tag-nuclear-power","tag-solar-power","tag-spanish-grid","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-16_25_33.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1AB2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":378322,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=378322","url_meta":{"origin":379008,"position":0},"title":"European Blackout Update (yes, it was solar)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/14\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Recent evidence indicates that Europe\u2019s worst blackout, occurring in the Iberian Peninsula, originated from an unstable power grid. This instability likely triggered the cascading chain of events that followed.","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cStrong oscillation\u201d\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cStrong oscillation\u201d","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=strong-oscillation"},"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":[]},{"id":406834,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=406834","url_meta":{"origin":379008,"position":1},"title":"Spanish Blackout\u2013Interim Report\u00a0Published","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/06\/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":389499,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389499","url_meta":{"origin":379008,"position":2},"title":"Kathryn Porter On The Spanish\u00a0Blackouts","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/18\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Kathryn Porter has a detailed analysis of the concise but informative\u00a0report\u00a0produced by Red El\u00e9ctrica de Espa\u00f1a (\u201cREE\u201d), the Spanish Transmission System Operator on the Spanish blackouts.","rel":"","context":"In \"Iberian grid\"","block_context":{"text":"Iberian grid","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=iberian-grid"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/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\/07\/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\/07\/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\/07\/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\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-15_49_25.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":377975,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377975","url_meta":{"origin":379008,"position":3},"title":"I\u2019m a power engineer. The Iberian grid collapse makes me very afraid for\u00a0Britain","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Telegraph has reported that even NESO are now warning about potential blackouts","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\/05\/00bigstock-Spain-Solar-And-Wind-Energy-R-308630041.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/00bigstock-Spain-Solar-And-Wind-Energy-R-308630041.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/00bigstock-Spain-Solar-And-Wind-Energy-R-308630041.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/00bigstock-Spain-Solar-And-Wind-Energy-R-308630041.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/00bigstock-Spain-Solar-And-Wind-Energy-R-308630041.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":380491,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=380491","url_meta":{"origin":379008,"position":4},"title":"Spain Boosts Natural Gas Capacity After Renewable Energy\u2019s Failure Led to Historic Blackout","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/28\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Meanwhile, the Iron Law of Electricity prevailed in Portugal\u2019s recent election, as those who enjoy civilized living went to the polls and picked a \u201cfar-right\u201d candidate.","rel":"","context":"In \"combined-cycle gas turbines\"","block_context":{"text":"combined-cycle gas turbines","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=combined-cycle-gas-turbines"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/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\/05\/Blackout.webp?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Blackout.webp?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Blackout.webp?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":376861,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376861","url_meta":{"origin":379008,"position":5},"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":"04\/30\/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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379008","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=379008"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379017,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379008\/revisions\/379017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/379016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=379008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=379008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=379008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}