6 Days After Celebrating '100% Renewable Power', Spain Blames "Rare Atmospheric Phenomenon" For Nation's Largest Blackout In History MONDAY, APR 28, 2025
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
As Michael Shellenberger writes at PUBLIC,this wasn’t just a Spanish blackout. It shook the entire European grid. As countries replaced heavy, spinning plants with lightweight, inverter-based generation, the grid became faster, lighter, and far more sensitive to disruptions. That basic physical reality was spelled out in public warnings as far back as 2017. Spain’s blackout wasn’t just a technical failure. It was a political and strategic failure.
The Iberian Peninsula… wiped off the map of lights. This is how it looked from orbit last night after a massive blackout hit Spain and Portugal. Cosmic silence over the region.”