Lights Out, Europe: The Cost Of Brussels' Energy Fantasy

Gulf Insider

2 days ago

Spain's leading energy companies – Iberdrola, Endesa, and EDP – remain stunned. After the nationwide blackout that cut power across Spain on April 28, the government has yet to provide a clear explanation or take technical responsibility…
The companies, represented by the employers' association Aelec, have denounced 'surprising omissions' in the official investigation. They demand that the extreme voltage spikes recorded in the days leading up to the collapse be included in the analysis. They have criticized the preliminary report from ENTSO-E—the European network of electricity operators—for claiming that 'the system was operating normally' just seconds before the failure. Meanwhile, severe voltage swings were recorded, going beyond safety limits and triggering automatic shutdowns of high-voltage substations and key refineries.
This episode is far more than an isolated incident. It is a metaphor for the erratic direction taken by the European Union's energy policy. In the name of climate change, Brussels has embarked on a radical overhaul of its energy model driven not by technical or economic realities, but by an ideological agenda imposed by political and bureaucratic elites. What was marketed as a smooth transition toward renewable energy has turned into a forced green agenda, with no viable alternatives and little regard for its impact on competitiveness, system stability, or citizens' well-being.
At the root of this drift lies the REPowerEU plan, launched after the start of the war in Ukraine with the stated aim of 'fully decoupling' Europe from Russian energy. What initially appeared to be a justified geostrategic measure quickly became, in the hands of the European Commission, a pretext to push through renewable energies at any cost. This led to a rushed and uneven transition, with citizens and businesses footing the bill.
This leap into the void has destabilized key sectors such as agriculture, transport, and industry, forcing them to absorb rising costs without receiving real technological upgrades. Countries like Germany, which shut down their nuclear plants out of political conviction, have now had to reopen coal-fired stations in a contradictory reversal. Meanwhile, state propaganda continues to promote green energy self-sufficiency, while households face record electricity bills and companies lose competitiveness.
The structural failures of the European power grid are becoming increasingly evident. The continental grid was designed for stable and predictable hydro, gas, and nuclear sources. The mass introduction of intermittent sources like wind and solar makes imbalances difficult to manage: without wind or sun, generation collapses; with too much, the grid becomes dangerously overloaded.
On April 28th, the Iberian Peninsula experienced those consequences firsthand. Abnormal voltage levels were detected in several substations throughout the morning. To grasp the gravity: a 'voltage oscillation' involves a sudden and significant fluctuation in the grid's voltage, which can damage equipment, trigger automatic disconnections, or, in extreme cases, cause a total blackout. At the Lancha substation, voltage reached nearly 250 kV on a line rated for 220. Another line, rated at 400 kV, surpassed 470 kV just before the collapse. According to Aelec, these anomalies began as early as 10:00 a.m. While a sudden drop of 2,200 MW in generation has been cited as the trigger, the system is theoretically built to withstand a loss of up to 3,000 MW without shutting down. This was not a coincidental failure—it was a built-in weakness.
Beyond technical and political issues, the forced energy transition takes a human toll. European households are paying more for electricity, hitting middle- and lower-income families especially hard. Electrification of transport, promoted without adequate foresight, is raising the cost of mobility due to a lack of reliable charging infrastructure. Farmers and truckers, already squeezed by unmanageable climate regulations, face growing expenses while being pressured to make investments they cannot afford.
Moreover, blackouts are no minor issue: their impact ranges from multimillion-euro industrial losses to the paralysis of hospitals, schools, and transport networks. In Spain, the outage even cost five people their lives. An energy model that cannot ensure a steady supply threatens the economy and public safety.
European industry, particularly in the central and southern parts of the continent, is already bearing the brunt. Unable to compete with American or Asian energy prices, many companies are relocating production or shutting down. Paradoxically, even sectors the green agenda promotes, such as electric vehicles, are faltering. Once-dominant car industries in Germany and France are struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive global market. While Europe imposes ideological standards, China manufactures more, better, and cheaper. Deindustrialization is no longer a threat—it's a fact. Notably, some factions on the Left even embrace 'degrowth'—deliberate economic decline—as a desirable path.
Worse still, despite all these sacrifices, Europe continues to import Russian energy—now via third countries—and remains vulnerable to geopolitical pressure. The promise of energy independence often rings hollow.
The Green Deal has morphed from a promise of modernization into a political myth: a story no longer grounded in reality, propped up by propaganda that refuses to confront its contradictions. The public, increasingly aware of the real costs, is beginning to push back. The farmers' resistance in the Netherlands gave rise to a political party now part of the ruling coalition. In other countries, protests and citizen discontent are multiplying. And this is only the beginning. This very week, farmers returned to Brussels to protest the suffocating policies they face.
An energy transition is not inherently harmful, but cannot be imposed dogmatically. It requires realism, technological pluralism, gradual implementation, and a willingness to adopt what works. Nuclear, hydro, and natural gas must be part of the energy mix while green technologies mature. Sustainability will not be achieved by denying physics or punishing citizens, but by integrating every available tool with a long-term vision.
What happened in Spain is a symptom, not an accident.
Europe's current energy model is not equipped to operate under the conditions imposed by Brussels. There is an urgent need to rethink energy policy—not through ideology, but through engineering, economics, and common sense. If the energy transition is to be our path forward, let it be pursued with caution, technological plurality, and respect for the system's real limitations.
Europe cannot afford to stumble in the dark in the name of a green light; it still does not know how to switch on.