When a major power outage hit large parts of Spain and Portugal on 28 April, critics of renewable energy didn’t wait for the facts. Instead, they quickly took to social media and the press – with messages sometimes echoed by public broadcasters – to blame the blackout on renewables.
This wasn’t just speculation. It was part of a wider pattern of climate disinformation targeting low-carbon technologies, aiming to undermine public trust and stall progress on the energy transition.
Some of these critics amplified early, unverified claims about what triggered the event. Others argued that the growing share of wind and solar energy had made the grid unstable.
It’s a serious claim – but not necessarily a valid one at this point. We need to know the chain of circumstances that led to the blackout, what measures were in place at the time, and precisely what went wrong. Spain’s grid operator, Red Eléctrica de España, will no doubt shed more light on that. In the meantime, blaming renewables makes little sense.
To understand what’s at stake, a quick refresher: Traditional power plants – like those running on coal, gas, or nuclear – provide what’s called “rotational inertia.” Their large spinning generators help stabilize the grid by keeping voltage and frequency steady.
By contrast, the power electronics that connect solar panels and wind turbines to the grid don’t naturally provide the same stabilizing effect. So, as the share of renewable electricity grows, the system becomes more sensitive to sudden shifts in supply or demand.
When an incident disrupts that balance – if a transmission line goes offline, for example – the voltage and frequency can start to drift. To contain the problem, safety systems isolate the affected area. That’s what happened on 28 April, and it’s why the rest of Europe, including France, didn’t experience a blackout.
This kind of cascading failure isn’t new, nor is it specific to renewable power. Large blackouts have occurred well before wind and solar took off – in Italy, Canada, and the US in 2003, India in 2012, Turkey in 2015, Australia in 2016, and more recently in Texas, Spain, and Pakistan.
Some blackouts stem from “low voltage” issues during high demand. More recent challenges come from “high voltage” conditions, which can arise when demand is low and decentralized sources like wind and solar are generating more than the system can easily absorb.
Every such event is a chance to improve the system. We already know how to make grids more resilient with a high share of renewables:
All these tools are part of a modern, flexible grid. South Australia and California have already demonstrated that it’s possible to integrate high shares of variable renewables without compromising stability.
The blackout should be treated for what it is: a chance to improve and strengthen our power systems.
While lessons will certainly be learned from the Iberian blackout event, one takeaway is already clear: slowing down the energy transition isn’t one of them.
The blackout should be treated for what it is: a chance to improve and strengthen our power systems. Knee-jerk reactions that blame renewable energy only distract from the real work of building a more reliable, modern, and low-carbon grid.
We have the tools, the technologies, and the knowledge. What we need now is the resolve to stay the course – thoughtfully, decisively, and with a clear-eyed sense of the opportunities ahead.
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