Two days after the giant breakdown having touched the peninsula, the nature of the Iberian energy mix is at the heart of lively debates in Spain (AFP / Miguel Riopa)
Did the boom in renewable energies weaken the Spanish electrical network? Two days after the giant breakdown having touched the peninsula, the nature of the Iberian energy mix is at the heart of lively debates in Spain, despite the reassuring messages from the authorities.
“The lack of nuclear power plants and the + boom + renewables have put the electricity network on the ground,” said the conservative daily ABC on Wednesday. “Alerts on renewables for five years” were “ignored”, regrets El Mundo, also classified on the right.
In the viewfinder of these two daily newspapers, but also opposition parties: the energy policy implemented for several years by the government of the Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who made Spain one of the European champions of the Green Transition.
According to the manager of the Spanish electricity network Ree, solar and wind represented in 2024 almost 40% of the Spanish electric mix. It is almost twice as in 2014, and also double nuclear, the share of which fell last year at 20%.
An evolution resolutely defended by the executive, which has undertaken to close all nuclear power plants within 10 years, but a source of tensions, while several recent reports have pointed out possible risks in the absence of strong measures to adapt the network.
– “sure” energy –
In its annual financial document published at the end of February, the Mother house of Reeia, Redeia, had thus warned against “the strong penetration of renewable production without the technical capacities necessary for adequate behavior in the face of disturbances”.
This could “cause potentially” severe “potentially” production cuts, going so far as to cause an imbalance between production and demand, which would significantly affect Spain’s electricity supply, “she wrote.
A message relayed by the competition gendarme (CNMC). “At certain times, the tensions of the transport network (electricity) have reached maximum values close to the authorized thresholds, sometimes exceeding them,” said the organization in a January report.
After the cut, experts in the sector wondered about a possible imbalance between production and electricity request, more difficult to correct without adequate technologies in a network where wind and solar weigh more (AFP / Cesar Manso)
After the cut, experts in the sector wondered about a possible imbalance between production and electricity request, more difficult to correct without adequate technologies in a network where wind and solar weigh more, which could have contributed to the collapse of the Spanish system.
In an interview granted Wednesday morning on Cadena Ser, the president of Ree, the former socialist deputy Beatriz Cordor, however assured that the production of renewable energy was “safe” and worked “in a stable manner”.
“Connecting the incident so serious from Monday to a penetration of renewables is not true, it is not correct,” she insisted, adding that the February report only made the list of potential risks, as required by legislation.
– “Ignorance” –
Asked about this controversy, the Minister of Ecological Transition Sara Aagesen judged on Wednesday “imprudent to make speculations”, ensuring that the cause of the failure which caused chaos in Portugal and Spain was still not known.
In the past, “the system has worked perfectly with a similar demand and a comparable energy mix. Consequently, to point the renewables (…) does not seem to be appropriate,” she insisted, by calling the Spanish network as “robust”.
Tuesday, Pedro Sánchez also rejected these criticism. “Those who link this incident to the lack of nuclear lies frankly or demonstrate their ignorance,” said the socialist leader.
Travelers preparing to spend the night at Atocha station in Madrid because of the giant electricity failure, April 28, 2025 (AFP / óscar del pozo)
Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the failure, including that of a cyber attack, on which Spanish justice has opened an investigation. This track is however considered little credible by Ree, who assured Tuesday that he had spotted “no intrusion” in its control systems.
According to the authorities, the equivalent of 60% of the electricity consumption of Spain, or 15 gigawatts, disappeared in the space of five seconds during the breakdown, which occurred on Monday at 12:33 (10:33 GMT) – a phenomenon qualified as “unprecedented” by the executive.
In his report of events, Ree indicated that he had identified as possible origin of this collapse two distinct incidents at a second and a half interval, one of which has been able to affect a solar production site in the southwest of Spain.
At this stage, it is “not possible to draw conclusions,” warned the organization.
