A reliance on Net Zero energy left Spain and Portugal vulnerable to the mass blackouts engulfing the region, experts have said. The Telegraph has the story.
In what is believed to be Europe’s largest power cut, tens of millions of people were left without electricity, while flights were grounded, trains halted and whole cities were left without power, internet access or other vital services.
The cause of the initial fault in the region’s electricity grid is still being investigated, and the EU has insisted that there were no indications that it was a cyberattack.
However, energy experts have blamed a heavy reliance on solar and wind farms in Spain for leaving the region’s power grid vulnerable to such a crisis.
A state of emergency was declared in Spain, while in Portugal, water company EPAL said supplies could also be disrupted.
Queues formed at shops of people seeking to purchase emergency supplies like gaslights, generators and batteries.
Energy operators are fighting to restore power in Spain, Portugal and parts of France, and residents are being urged to avoid travel and use mobile phones sparingly.
Tens of thousands of British travellers could potentially be affected by airport disruption in the region.
Spain has seen a massive increase in renewable and low carbon electricity generation in recent years. Two decades ago more than 80% of its power came from burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas, as well as nuclear. Solar and wind provided less than 5%.
By 2023 renewable energy provided 50.3% of power. On Monday the proportion of renewables was far higher. Around noon, just before the crash, solar was providing about 53% of Spain’s electricity with another 1% from wind, according to Red Eléctrica’s own data. Gas was providing only about 6%.
On Monday Spain was forced to activate emergency measures to restore electricity across parts of northern and southern Spain, including switching hydroelectric plants across the country back on and importing power through giant cables with France and Morocco.
Traditional energy systems have mechanisms which allow them to keep running even if there is a shock, such as a surge or loss of power.
However, solar and wind do not have the same ability.
Electricity grids need what is known as inertia to help balance the network and maintain electricity supplies at a stable frequency. Inertia is created by generators with spinning parts – such as turbines running on gas, coal or hydropower – which wind and solar do not have.
Britain’s National Energy Systems Operator (Neso) compares it to “the shock absorbers in your car’s suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward.”
Kathryn Porter, an independent energy analyst, said: “In a low-inertia environment the frequency can change much faster. If you have had a significant grid fault in one area, or a cyber attack, or whatever it may be, the grid operators therefore have less time to react.
“That can lead to cascading failures if you cannot get it under control quickly.”
Duncan Burt, a former British grid operator and strategy chief at Reactive Technologies, said: “If you have got a very high solar day then your grid is less stable, unless you’ve taken actions to mitigate that. So you would expect things to be less stable than normal.”
Richard Tice, the Reform party’s deputy leader and energy spokesman, said the events in Spain should be a warning to Britain and showed the risks of net zero.
He said: “We need to know the exact causes but this should be seen as a wake-up call to the eco-zealots.
“Power grids need to operate within tight parameters to remain stable. Wind and solar outputs by contrast, vary hugely over long and short periods so they add risk to the system. The UK’s grid operators and our Government should take heed.”
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