Spain Advances Renewable Energy Shift One Year After Major Blackout

April 28, 2025, a blackout affected all of Spain and much of Portugal, marking Europe’s first system black event in recent memory. The incident caused traffic signals to fail, mobile networks to stop working, petrol stations to halt pumping fuel, and supermarkets to be unable to process payments.

Madrid’s metro stopped, requiring passengers to be evacuated from carriages. Carlos Condori, a 19-year-old construction worker, told AFP at the time that people were stunned as such an event had never occurred in Spain. He noted the lack of phone coverage prevented him from contacting family or going to work.

Causes Power was mostly restored in the days following the blackout. The pan-European grid operator ENTSO-E's final report attributed the event to a perfect storm of governance failures, particularly related to voltage issues. When voltage is too high or low, power lines and generators disconnect, leading to cascading failures.

Initial media reports and debates blamed solar power and renewables for lacking inertia, but investigations concluded this was not a factor. Chris Rosslowe, a senior energy analyst at Ember, stated that Spain’s trajectory toward reducing fossil power and increasing renewables has strengthened since the blackout.

There was a temporary increase in gas-fired generation post-blackout to aid voltage control, but this was due to a lack of alternatives like battery storage. Rosslowe noted that half of the 2025 gas increase resulted from lower wind and hydro output.

Spain’s grid operator has since allowed wind and solar to contribute to voltage control, with renewables providing these services since April.