Spain’s blackout: blaming renewables only reveals ignorance and conflicts of interest

On April 28, . In a matter of minutes, generation fell by more than 15 GW, interconnections with France were interrupted, and much of the system was disconnected for safety reasons, leaving both countries without power for several hours.

The immediate reaction of some pundits and interested parties? . The level of misinformation was as grotesque as it was predictable: a media offensive that reveals more about the interests of those behind it than the reality of the electricity system.

Blaming the sun is energy flat-earthism. Renewables did not cause the blackout. Attributing the collapse to the fact that the system was running on more than 70% renewables is like blaming water for a bridge collapsing: it’s not the flow, it’s the structure.

The Spanish electricity grid’s design is 50-years old: for large thermal and nuclear power plants, with physical rotation and mechanical inertia.

The problem is not the presence of renewables, but the absence of the elements necessary to integrate them properly: storage, advanced electronics, and a regulatory architecture adapted to their nature.