· 2 min read
illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Economist or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: On April 28, Spain's electricity grid suffered a sudden loss of 15 gigawatts—equivalent to 60% of national demand — leading to widespread blackouts across Spain and Portugal
• Critical infrastructure including hospitals, public transport, and communication networks were severely disrupted, highlighting vulnerabilities in the region’s power systems
🔭 The context: Spain and Portugal have been leaders in renewable energy adoption, with high shares of wind and solar power integrated into their grids
• However, the increasing complexity and decentralization of renewable energy systems require sophisticated grid management
• Monday's blackout exposed the system’s fragility when faced with sudden, large-scale disruptions, particularly in balancing renewable supply with demand.
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The incident underscores that while renewables are crucial for decarbonization, robust grid infrastructure, storage solutions, and real-time balancing mechanisms are essential to ensure reliability
• A failure to address these vulnerabilities could fuel skepticism about renewable scalability and delay broader clean energy transitions at a critical time for climate action
⏭️ What's next: Spanish and Portuguese authorities are launching investigations to determine the cause of the failure and prevent future incidents
• Energy regulators are expected to push for accelerated investment in smart grids, battery storage, and grid interconnections
• Lessons from this event will likely influence European energy resilience strategies, especially as renewables expand across the continent
💬 One quote: "This is a wake-up call that the energy transition must go hand in hand with investments in resilience and system stability," — energy consultant cited by The Economist
📈 One stat: Spain lost 15 gigawatts of electricity in minutes — equivalent to 60% of national demand—triggering one of the largest blackouts in recent European history
See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance of Red Eléctrica and its peers Iberdrola, and REN
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