Headline Roundup • April 29th, 2025
What Caused the Blackout in Spain and Portugal?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A blackout hit the Iberian Peninsula on Monday, leaving 55 million without power. What caused it?
The Details: The official cause of the blackout could take days to determine. Spain and Portugal ruled out a cyberattack, although Spain's top court is investigating the possibility of computer sabotage. The leading theory is that a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” caused fast temperature shifts and two “disconnection events,” disrupting the power grid.
For Context: Portugal and Spain lead the European Union (EU) in renewable energy use, sourcing 80% from wind and solar. Last week, Spain's power grid operated entirely on renewable energy on a weekday for the first time.
How Reliable Are Renewables? Michael Shellenberger (Lean Right bias) wrote in Public.News (Lean Right) that he has been warning about this for years—renewable energy is not prepared to handle seasonal fluctuations without support from nuclear, oil and gas. The Guardian (Left) acknowledged that renewable grids have less inertia. David Brayshaw, a professor of climate science and energy meteorology, said, “Technical changes mean the system now has less inertia, so imbalances must be corrected more quickly. Outage events, when they occur, are likely to become more significant and widespread.” But the Guardian also said, “Blackouts can happen regardless of what type of energy powers the grid.” Bloomberg (Lean Left) noted that EU countries need to modernize their power grids because when upgrades don't match the pace of renewables, it puts pressure on an aging grid.
How The Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum reported that solar power was the likely cause of the outage. Outlets on the right emphasized the overall instability of renewables, while outlets on the left tended to downplay it, saying grid modernization needs to happen in tandem with the transition to renewables.
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Spain and Portugal suffered the worst blackout in living memory in Europe this week. About 55 million people were affected and it lasted more than half a day. Some have blamed renewables and net zero emissions targets, as the two countries boast high levels of wind and solar on their electricity grid and lead Europe in the technologies. But is this true?
What happened?
Some initial reports suggested a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” may have been to blame, citing a statement attributed to the Portuguese grid operator REN. In extreme weather, such as...
Six days ago, the media celebrated a significant milestone: Spain’s national grid operated entirely on renewable energy for the first time during a weekday.
At 12:35 pm today local time, the lights went out across Spain and Portugal, and parts of France. Although power was quickly restored in France, it could take a week to fully restore power in Spain and Portugal.
In an instant, the electric hum of modern life — trains, hospitals, airports, phones, traffic lights, cash registers — fell silent. Tens of millions of people instantly plunged into chaos, confusion, and...
