Webinar: Technical keys to the recent blackouts in the Spanish power system

The blackout on April 28, 2025, has sparked intense debate across Spain’s electricity sector. While no single cause can yet be ruled out, technical data suggests that neither solar nor wind were directly responsible for the failure despite renewables setting a new record that day with over 65% penetration. 

Were renewables to blame? 
Does this incident show that we need to bring nuclear back? 

What happened was the result of a combination of technical missteps and failures in internal protocols, exposing the structural vulnerabilities of the Spanish power system. 

The latest findings show that the grid was operating with the lowest level of synchronous generation in 2025, and REE (the Spanish grid operator) failed to activate all available resources. Voltage control errors occurred, with plants injecting reactive power instead of absorbing it, and several out-of-protocol disconnections took place. The outcome: oscillations, critical overvoltage, and a disconnection from France, leaving Spain in a complete blackout for 12 seconds. 

Renewables were not the cause of the blackout, but their limited integration into voltage control systems revealed a major operational gap. Experts agree: the solution is not to limit clean energy, but to strengthen technical regulation, enable services like voltage control, storage, and demand-side flexibility. 

• Review key takeaways from historical blackouts in the UK, USA (Texas), Australia, and now Spain—and what they teach us 

• Explore the core factors behind the April 28 incident, and what the technical data really says about the role of renewables 

• Join expert analysis on how Spain’s energy mix can continue to lead the green transition, while ensuring grid stability, security, and competitive pricing 

• Dive into real-world scenarios and tech solutions to strengthen grid stability and prevent future crises on the path to a cleaner, safer electricity system 

• And… what about resilience? It wasn’t just the electric grid that went down—payment systems, ATMs, mobile networks all went dark. Is our ultra-reliable grid system becoming a hidden risk?