Spain and Portugal Blackout Affects Millions, Raises Renewable Energy Stability Concerns

22 posts • Grok (2)

Updated May 8, 2025, 03:46 PM

Spain and Portugal experienced a massive blackout on April 28, which led to widespread disruptions including grounded flights, downed cell networks, and closed businesses. The outage, which affected tens of millions, was followed by another power failure on the Canary Island of La Palma, leaving approximately 30,000 residents without electricity. The cause of the La Palma outage is believed to be linked to an issue at the Los Guinchos power plant.

The Iberian blackout has raised concerns about Europe's energy security and the stability of power grids heavily reliant on renewable energy sources. At the time of the blackout, solar and wind power accounted for about 70% of Spain's electricity generation. Some experts suggest that the high dependence on renewables may have contributed to the grid's instability, although Spanish government officials have not yet confirmed this. The blackout resulted in a 34% drop in consumption on the day, with a net fall of 15% in expected consumption. The economic toll of the blackout is estimated at 1.6 billion euros, with a loss of 400 million euros in purchases compared to a typical Monday. By the following day, 75% of the consumption loss had been recovered.

In response to the blackout, Portugal has resumed limited electricity imports from Spain, with restrictions in place until May 12. The incident has sparked discussions on the resilience of power systems and the potential risks associated with transitioning to renewable energy sources. At the time of the blackout, Spain lost 60% of its power, or 15 gigawatts, in just 5 seconds. Prior to the failure, there were voltage fluctuations and the spot electricity price was negative due to excess power being exported. Additionally, nuclear plants were operating at half capacity.

More breaking stories on DeepNewz — updated live.

#Spain #Portugal #Canary Island #La Palma #Los Guinchos #Iberian #Europe #Spanish

Financial Analysis

Associated Financial Markets

More financial news and market updates→

Related Prediction Markets

June 12 internet outages caused by a hack?

Iran behind June 12 internet outages?

•

Sources

reuters.com(5)eleconomista.es(2)ntd.com wattsupwiththat.com

NTD News

@NTDNews

A massive blackout in Spain and Portugal last week shut down transportation, communications, and internet access, affecting tens of thousands. Some experts blame the incident on an overreliance on renewable energy, though officials deny this. https://t.co/6wEFVIfTSu

Reuters

@Reuters

Power outage hits several areas in Spain's La Palma island https://t.co/wcDwpoFGAE https://t.co/wcDwpoFGAE

Watts Up With That

@wattsupwiththat

Energy Consumption in 2024 and the Spanish Power Failure https://t.co/IiBEFWoIvy What does the April 2025 Spanish power failure tell us about how we compare solar and wind to stable fossil fuel and n...