Net zero, cyber attack or freak weather? Urgent probe after Spain & Portugal left in chaos by Europe's biggest blackout

The Sun

29-04-2025

SPAIN and Portugal plunged into chaos after Europe's biggest-ever blackout cut power to tens of millions - and now experts are warning that net zero may be partly to blame.
A huge reliance on solar and wind energy left both nations dangerously exposed, analysts said, as airports shut, trains stopped and whole cities fell into darkness.
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The mass outage triggered states of emergency, fuelled panic buying, and left thousands of Brits stranded as airports and transport links across the Iberian peninsula ground to a halt.
The exact cause of Monday's massive blackout, which began around 10.33am UK time, remains unclear.
But energy specialists say the green shift to solar and wind made the grid in Spain and Portugal far less stable - leaving it unable to cope when disaster struck.
At the time of the blackout, Spain was running on over 64% solar and wind, while gas made up just 6% of the power mix, The Telegraph reports.
Unlike fossil fuels, renewables do not generate "inertia" - the stabilising energy needed to absorb shocks in the grid.
Britain's National Energy Systems Operator described inertia as being like "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, explained: "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."
Spain and Portugal power outage – Sweeping blackouts shut down internet & grind transport to a halt
Former UK grid boss Duncan Burt added: 'If you have got a very high solar day then your grid is less stable, unless you've taken actions to mitigate that.'
Spain has made huge strides towards net zero - moving from fossil fuels dominating 80% of power generation two decades ago to renewables now making up more than half.
But experts warn that while solar and wind are clean, they don't provide the same grid "shock absorbers" as traditional power plants.
Solar and wind lack the "inertia" provided by big spinning turbines, meaning they can't react fast enough when things go wrong.
Richard Tice, Reform UK's deputy leader, said: "This should be seen as a wake-up call to the eco-zealots…
"Wind and solar outputs by contrast, vary hugely over long and short periods so they add risk to the system."
The European Court of Auditors had already warned earlier this month that the boom in renewables made balancing electricity systems across Europe much harder.
Under Ed Milliband's plans, Britain is racing to decarbonise its energy system by 2030 - a goal critics say now looks even riskier.
Cyber attack or extreme weather?
While the European Union 's cyber security wing ruled out a hack for now - blaming a technical or cable fault - some aren't so sure.
Juanma Moreno, president of Andalusia's regional government, said said a cyber attack is the most likely cause of the disruption and claimed that everything pointed towards a deliberate plot.
He added that hospitals would only be able to rely on their generators for 24 hours.
There were also fears that a "Russian cyberattack" is behind the chaos, following previous similar plots against Europe.
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There was speculation that Putin's meddling was involved in the Heathrow fire last month, which depleted the whole airport of power for a day.
Meanwhile, Portugal 's grid operator REN suggested a "rare atmospheric phenomenon" caused "anomalous oscillations" due to extreme temperature variations - though experts noted the weather wasn't particularly extreme at 22C.
Utility analyst Steve Loftus said: 'The cynic in me wonders if there are people who don't want to admit that it's a renewables issue – if it was – because a lot of people are very invested in its success.'
Slow recovery
By Monday night, about 61% of power had returned to some parts of Spain – including Galicia, the Basque Country, and Catalonia.
But Spanish officials warned full normality could take days, with Portugal adding it could take up to a week to fully stabilise on their end.
Airports in Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona were operating on emergency systems, and rail services across Spain and Portugal remained crippled.
As Britain watches on, experts are now urging a rethink before throwing everything behind renewables without safeguards.
Craig Dyke at Britain's National Energy Systems Operator said: 'We are monitoring the situation closely and are liaising with our counterparts in neighbouring European countries to offer any assistance that may be required.'
A UK Government spokesperson insisted: 'Our electricity network continues to operate as normal and there are no expected impacts on the UK.'
The day Europe stood still
by Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter
CHAOS erupted across Spain and Portugal as the continent was rocked by its biggest-ever blackout.
Traffic lights failed, mobile networks collapsed, and desperate residents queued outside shops, petrol stations and banks to grab supplies and cash.
In Madrid, emergency crews carried out 286 rescues to free people trapped in lifts, while passengers in Portugal were forced to flee darkened underground tunnels.
Spain's Interior Ministry declared a national emergency and deployed 30,000 police to maintain order as both governments held emergency cabinet meetings.
Airports in Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona ground to a halt, with hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled, leaving tens of thousands of British tourists stranded.
Supermarkets emptied fast as panic-buyers cleared shelves of essentials like batteries, water and generators.
Hospitals across the region were forced onto back-up generators, while Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez urged citizens to stay calm, limit travel and use phones sparingly.
Despite frantic efforts to restore power, authorities warned it could take several days for full normality to return – and investigations into what caused the blackout are still ongoing.
The blackout has already been dubbed the worst in European history – eclipsing the 2003 outage that hit 56 million people in Italy and Switzerland.