{"id":389499,"date":"2025-07-18T09:37:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T07:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389499"},"modified":"2025-07-18T09:37:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T07:37:17","slug":"kathryn-porter-on-the-spanish-blackouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389499","title":{"rendered":"Kathryn Porter On The Spanish\u00a0Blackouts"},"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

Kathryn Porter has a detailed analysis of the concise but informative <\/strong>report<\/a> produced by Red El\u00e9ctrica de Espa\u00f1a (\u201cREE\u201d), the Spanish Transmission System Operator on the Spanish blackouts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
https:\/\/watt-logic.com\/2025\/07\/16\/voltage-inertia-and-the-iberian-blackout-part-2-a-faulty-solar-inverter-crashed-the-spanish-grid12088\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s way beyond my pay grade, but it can be neatly summed up by this comment from Kathryn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iberian grid was already in a weakened state, owing to insufficient synchronous generation and excessive reliance on inverter-based renewables. The system failed to withstand a fault that originated with a single solar inverter. This was not an unavoidable technical event \u2013 it was the result of systemic underestimation of voltage control risks, poor compliance enforcement, and REE\u2019s failure to schedule or deploy sufficient dynamic voltage support.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blackout would not have occurred in a conventional, high-synchronous grid. The rush to decarbonise the power system without adequate attention to resilience and enforcement has created an atmosphere of complacency. That complacency \u2013 shared by policymakers, regulators, and parts of the renewables industry \u2013 led directly to a system-wide collapse that cost eleven lives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have seen many media reports which have tried to deflect from the role of intermittent renewable energy in the disaster. They have usually highlighted various failings by grid operators and lack of \u201cinvestment\u201d in the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But such reports miss the point. It is only because of the inherent instability of wind and solar power that all of these investments and safety measures become necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe in a perfect world the Spanish grid would have worked as intended, and there would have been no blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we don\u2019t live in a perfect world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":389503,"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":[691836667,691823612,691836665,691818181,691836666,691819121],"class_list":["post-389499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-iberian-grid","tag-kathryn-porter","tag-red-electrica-de-espana-ree","tag-renewable-energy","tag-spanish-blackouts-2","tag-wind-and-solar-power","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-30.-Apr.-2025-15_49_25.png?fit=1536%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Dkf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":376875,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376875","url_meta":{"origin":389499,"position":0},"title":"Net Zero Watch warns of growing grid\u00a0instability","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/30\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"With more than 50 million EU electricity consumers suffering blackouts yesterday, campaign group Net Zero Watch has reiterated its warning that the UK power grid is also becoming increasingly unstable.","rel":"","context":"In \"Blackouts\"","block_context":{"text":"Blackouts","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blackouts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0GpsP2YZW0AAVmzf.jpeg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0GpsP2YZW0AAVmzf.jpeg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0GpsP2YZW0AAVmzf.jpeg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0GpsP2YZW0AAVmzf.jpeg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0GpsP2YZW0AAVmzf.jpeg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":378322,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=378322","url_meta":{"origin":389499,"position":1},"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":362692,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=362692","url_meta":{"origin":389499,"position":2},"title":"NESO Must Come\u00a0Clean","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/19\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Kathryn Porter has the latest on the near blackouts last week:","rel":"","context":"In \"Blackouts\"","block_context":{"text":"Blackouts","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blackouts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0OC-IS_021.jpg?fit=1026%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0OC-IS_021.jpg?fit=1026%2C684&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0OC-IS_021.jpg?fit=1026%2C684&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0OC-IS_021.jpg?fit=1026%2C684&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":376861,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=376861","url_meta":{"origin":389499,"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":"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. 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