Lorraine Williamson
BRUSSELS / MADRID – Europe’s energy regulators are ramping up pressure on Spain following the widespread power outage that struck the Iberian Peninsula on 28 April 2025.
A high-level technical meeting in Brussels on 18 July—convened by ACER and ENTSO-E—will dissect what went wrong, as Europe grapples with rising tensions between national operators, energy providers, and the transition to renewables.
The blackout left swathes of Spain and Portugal without electricity. It began with a voltage spike at 12.32 pm in southern Spain. Then, within moments, 2,200 megawatts of generation capacity fell offline. Automatic protection systems failed. Interconnections with France shut down. By 12.36, the grid collapsed completely. Power was not fully restored for 16 hours.
A preliminary investigation by ENTSO-E paints a picture of a fragile system overwhelmed by a cascade of failures. Worryingly, grid instability had reportedly been detected more than 30 minutes before the crash. However, corrective action was either delayed or ineffective.
Focus turns to two critical failures
As investigators from across the EU comb through data, two urgent questions dominate: what triggered the sudden generation drop in southern Spain—and why didn’t the protection systems kick in to contain it?
The answers could reshape how Europe safeguards its power infrastructure. Although Spain successfully reconnected with France and Morocco using emergency protocols and so-called ‘black-start’ power plants, the disruption exposed how vulnerable the grid remains, especially as renewable energy expands.
Political and legal fallout in Spain
In Madrid, the political fallout has been swift. The government issued a royal decree packed with emergency reforms to shore up the grid—extending renewable project deadlines, boosting storage, and allowing solar and wind to stabilise the grid by modulating output. These contributions will now be financially incentivised.
The urgency behind the decree was partly driven by looming permit expirations: without legal changes, up to 5GW of renewable projects would have lost development rights at the end of June, threatening Spain’s green energy trajectory.
Energy Minister Sara Aagesen has publicly stated that the incident’s technical causes are now clear, blaming a voltage spike mishandled by the system. But whether Spain’s grid operator, Red Eléctrica de España (REE), is culpable remains under judicial review. The CNMC, Spain’s energy watchdog, has opened an official investigation.
Industry blame game reaches Brussels
Tensions within Spain’s energy sector are rising. Aelec—representing key players like Endesa and Iberdrola—has directly accused REE of negligence, claiming it ignored early warning signs and failed to activate conventional backup generation in time.
REE rejects the criticism, citing regulatory constraints and the complexity of events. But with Europe now taking the lead, the internal blame game is fast becoming an international matter.
Europe steps in
The upcoming Brussels summit will bring grid operators, governments, and industry leaders face to face. Transparency will be non-negotiable: all parties are expected to share data and findings to construct a shared, evidence-based account of the April 28 blackout.
ACER and ENTSO-E, the EU’s key energy coordination bodies, see the incident as emblematic of deeper structural challenges. As the bloc shifts toward renewables, balancing flexibility with reliability is becoming ever more precarious.
Grid at a crossroads
The Spain blackout investigation marks a critical moment for Europe’s energy future. With grid complexity rising, regional coordination lagging, and legacy systems creaking under new demands, the pressure is on to overhaul how national systems interact.
What emerges from Brussels may not only determine the fate of Spain’s grid management—but could set the tone for how Europe navigates the turbulent path to a greener but more fragile energy era.
All eyes on Brussels
The 18 July meeting could shape the next phase of Europe’s energy transition. Whether it leads to blame, reform, or renewed investment in grid resilience, one thing is clear: the age of isolated national grids is over. In an interconnected Europe, a failure in one corner can ripple across the entire system.
Sources: El Economista, El Pais