The Black -out that took place in Spain on April 28 was neither a surprise nor a malfunction. It embodies a deeper tension of our time, between those who embrace change and those who stick to outdated systems in the name of safety. Like any technological shift, it reflects a wider gap: a vision of the world that welcomes innovation versus one that clings to legacy -frameworks. The Spanish blackout should not be interpreted as a failure of renewable energy sources, but as a wake-up call revealing how rigid our power infrastructure is still holding on to its historical basis.
This event, which influenced almost the entire Iberian grid and parts of the Southwest France, stands out as a great energy incident in recent European memory. Although the reaction, especially in France, was fast and effective, the incident revealed structural vulnerabilities that our energy systems are increasingly confronted in the coming years.
Like most European systems, the Spanish grid is distributed: it consists of interconnected zones that constantly exchange electricity. When a disruption occurs in one of these zones, such as the sudden loss of a generating unit or an important piece of infrastructure, a local imbalance between generation and question appears, so that the frequency immediately falls below 50 Hz reference.
This phenomenon, although well understood in theory, is given a new dimension in a system where solar and wind sources are used extensively and distributed geographically. In such a system, the behavior of inverters becomes crucial for the stability of the local grid. When frequency falls strongly in a certain zone, these digital generators can help support the network if they were allowed to remain connected.
Nevertheless, these installations must automatically be released under the current European grid code if the frequency falls under the threshold of 48 Hz. This protection mechanism, inherited from a grid paradigm based on rotation, robs the system of valuable power exactly when it is most needed. This premature withdrawal worsens the local imbalance, accelerates the frequency decrease and can cause a cascade of further decoping on adjacent zones. In this way, an isolated event escalates through a Domino effect in a widespread collapse, as a house of cards that all fall.
France, on the other hand, showed remarkable resilience. The cross -border mutual connections helped to absorb the initial shock, while automated protection isolated part of the southwest to contain the spread. Thanks to this system architecture and the rapid intervention of RTE, the situation was stabilized within a few minutes.
This resilience is based on various important characteristics: strong structural slowness, largely thanks to the nuclear fleet, which naturally dampens frequency fluctuations; a more balanced distribution of generation assets over the territory; Sufficiently rotating reserves for immediate response to current losses; And finally, robust mutual connections with neighboring countries that enable regional to share resources in real time.
It is important to emphasize that this nuclear slowness is not a brake on the energy transition it is an enabler. It forms a valuable technical basis with which France can integrate the growing volumes of renewable electricity while maintaining system stability. This structural complementarity between nuclear and renewable energy sources of contradictory can serve as a European blueprint for a safe and well-managed transition.
More than just an isolated event, the black -out must be conceived as a weak signal from a paradigm shift: a transition from a system based on predictability, centralization and mechanical slowness to one that increasingly divided, dynamically and responds to local conditions.
Such an event invites two interpretations. One is a nervous reading and sees it as another technical failure. The other is clearer: it reveals how far we still have to go when adjusting our networks to the reality of the energy transition. Our current grid architecture is designed for a world of centralized, linear and predictable generation. But we now live in an electric world that is increasingly divided, adaptive and digital. What we stand for is not a malfunction to repair, but a model to re -design fundamentally.
In this context, blaming renewable energy sources for the Black -out of Spain as considering the thermometer for the fever. The automatic decoupling of units generating when critical frequency thresholds are violated is not an error inherent to renewable energy sources, it has been developed the outcome of safety protocols for an inertia -dominated system. This rule, which applies to all types of generation, including nuclear, is designed to protect equipment against extreme frequency abnormalities. But in a grid that is increasingly powered by electronic sources, such as solar and windomorverers, this logic can be counterproductive, so that the system of capacity is stripped exactly when it is most needed.
As renewable energy sources become widespread, they will increasingly be in the vicinity of the source of imbalances of the schedule – not as a source of fragility, but as a flexibility reservoir. That is, if we allow them to stay online, contributes to frequency support and to stabilize the system. Yet these digital generators are still forced to link separately when they can act as buffers instead. The problem is not their nature, it is our failure to integrate them as active sources for net reliability. It is time for us to arrange the 21st-century technologies with 21st-century operating systems.
This is not a Spanish problem. The whole of Europe now faces a challenge that is comparable to those who overcame it three decades ago in telecommunications. By finding out GSM, Europe managed to turn a Lappertje from National Systems into a global innovation duration program. Nowadays, with its various energy mixes, consumption profiles and geographical limitations, Europe has a unique opportunity – to reinvent its electricity networks, as re -invented mobile communication: intelligent, jointly and resorous.
Solar energy will not prevail through ideology, but through efficiency. It is free, universal and abundant. Conversion systems become more affordable, more performance and more accessible every year. Their commitment is simple, decentralized and scalable. Just like in Telecom, some countries will jump directly to distributed grid architectures and completely bypass the centralized model.
Pakistan’s experience in 2024 is instructive. Faced with a fragile schedule, daily black -out and rising electricity prices, the country saw a grassroots movement in the direction of the adoption of solar energy. Within a few months, 17 GW of panels were imported and millions of roofs were equipped. Solar did not cause the collapse of the schedule, instead it was the reaction. What Pakistan does from urgency will pursue others as a strategic choice.
The incident of April 28 is not the first nor the latter. It is one of the many signs that the system is changing. Renewable penetration reaches historical levels. The weather conditions themselves become more unpredictable. And in this transition, every disturbance offers the opportunity to learn. If Europe may have missed the first industrial jump of the energy evolution, it cannot afford to miss the following: the board, the architecture and the intelligent control over the networks of tomorrow.
We should not be afraid of the future. These fractures are not threats – they are promises. They force us to innovate, reconsider, to build differently. Solar energy illuminates, just like the light it catches, the path forward. The only question is: shall we know how to position the mirrors?
Author: Xavier Daval, CEO of Kilowattsol, chairman of Solar Commission at the French Renewable Energy Association (SER) and administrative director of the Global Solar Council (GSC).
Image: Ser-Soler
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