Where does the blame in Spain lie?

While it may be tempting to blame the unprecedented power outage that hit the Iberian peninsula this week on the rapid growth of wind and solar power in Spain, reliance on renewables is not to blame.

- Ron Bousso

Rather, the issue appears to be the management of renewables in the modern grid. The massive blackout on Monday — the biggest in Europe's history — should be a stark warning to governments: investments in power storage and grid upgrades must go hand in hand with the expansion of renewables generation. Spanish authorities are currently investigating the causes of the huge outage, as power continues to be gradually restored. But here is what we know so far:

At around 12.30pm (5.30pm Thai time), electricity generation in Spain dropped rapidly from around 27 gigawatts to just over 12 GW. The 15 GW loss was equivalent to 10% of Spain's total installed capacity.

The sudden drop in grid load destabilised electricity flows, which require an extremely stable frequency of 50 Hertz to maintain supply. This, in turn, caused a break in the Spanish and French electricity interconnection that goes through the Pyrenees mountains, resulting in the total collapse of the Spanish power system.

Spain exports electricity to Portugal, so the collapse of power in Spain quickly spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Some areas in France also suffered brief outages on Monday.

The cause of the initial drop that led to the catastrophic cascade of events is unclear, though a collapse in Spain's solar power system was certainly involved.