Inertia

In the culturally rich and diverse Iberian Peninsula, an unprecedented blackout swept across mainland Portugal and peninsular Spain on April 28, plunging millions into darkness for over 10 hours, with some areas enduring power outages that lasted up to 16 hours.

- JOE ZALDARRIAGA

It disrupted telecommunications, transportation systems, emergency services, and daily life across the peninsula.

The incident reignited discussions on transitioning responsibly to renewable energy sources, especially since Portugal and Spain pursue some of Europe's more ambitious green energy targets.

Spain's grid operator, Red Eléctrica, attributed the failure to insufficient voltage regulation from major power plants, while energy companies like Iberdrola and Endesa pointed to outdated grid systems and lack of interconnection as contributing factors.

The Iberian blackout brought the vulnerabilities of rapidly transitioning to renewable energy into sharp focus and put forward the critical issue on infrastructure resiliency and readiness.

I recently had the chance to see a presentation by Meralco first vice president and head of networks Engr. Froilan Savet on this topic to understand how the Iberian blackout can serve as a cautionary tale for the Philippines given our interest in increasing the share of renewable energy in our power supply mix.