Did photo voltaic power set off the Iberian energy outage?

As shortly because the lights headed out in Spain and Portugal, the hypothesizing in regards to the supply of the ability outage began. Was it a cyberattack? Atmospheric disturbance? Aliens?

Though the Spanish federal authorities is exploring the chance of a cyberattack on the Spanish electrical energy grid, the top of the Spanish electrical energy transmission system driver Red Electrica (REE), Eduardo Prieto, has ruled this out already.

Extreme regularity change

According to Prieto, 2 clearly completely different occurrences that came about inside 1.5 secs of every numerous different in southwestern Spain tossed the grid regularity off equilibrium. He claimed that this created the interruption of nuclear energy plant with a functionality of 15 gigawatts (GW)– practically fifty % of the energetic nuclear energy plant functionality on the time.

Very large and abrupt variances can set off a plunging failing, the place extreme regularity variations set off elements and units in numerous different nuclear energy plant (and large clients), which after that instantly take these crops off the grid.

Prieto defined it as pretty possible that this trigger and impact may need been brought on by photo voltaic power crops.

Does that indicate doubters of renewable sources are proper once they state {that a} surplus of photo voltaic power brought about the ability outage?

Claim: “Renewables, in this case solar, have just caused the first major #power outage in Spain, specifically due to an oversupply of solar,” a claimed physicist with a German account, posted on X, beforehand Twitter, gathering practically 100,000 sights (since 30.04.2025, 16:40).

The particular person refered to Fritz Vahrenholt, a German chemistry trainer and supervisor, that’s necessary of energy change initiatives and had truly clarified in an extra post on X, which drew in better than 400,000 sights, that previous to the grid failing in Spain, the manufacturing of renewable sources, particularly photo voltaic, had truly boosted better than want.

DW actuality test: Unproven

The supply of the ability interruption has not been successfully made clear. It is correct that on the time of the ability outage, solar energy equipped about 60% (19.3 GW) of the ability supplied within the Spanish grid. Moreover, it reveals up that photo voltaic power crops managed electrical energy manufacturing within the southwest of Spain.

Did all PV techniques unexpectedly flip off?

For energy change doubter Fritz Vahrenholt, there isn’t any query that the surplus of photo voltaic (PV) energy within the Spanish grid was the “primary cause,” as he knowledgeable DW by e-mail. He claimed that Spain had truly been compelled to export electrical energy to France subsequently.

The “secondary cause” was the lack of this transmission line and subsequently “all” the PV techniques had after that “abruptly” indifferent from the grid, he claimed.

However, PV techniques aren’t supposed to shut down out of the blue. as a result of the truth that commonplace legal guidelines for electrical energy producers have truly been in strain within the EU provided that 2016.

These legal guidelines state that PV techniques have to progressively decrease their feed-in if the grid regularity surpasses the restriction price of fifty.2 hertz (Hz) due to an influence extra.

“In Spain, corresponding grid connection guidelines were introduced at the end of the 2000s to ensure that PV systems do not simply disconnect from the grid in the event of a sudden grid fault,” claimed Sönke Rogalla, a scientist on the German Fraunhofer Institute ISE, Europe’s greatest photo voltaic research institute. He clarified that these houses had been validated earlier than process as element of qualification therapies.

Furthermore, data avaiable so far  moreover oppose Vahrenholt’s thesis. Even if all photo voltaic crops had truly been eliminated the grid at the exact same time, there would definitely not have truly been a deficiency of 15 GW, nonetheless a minimal of of 20.4 GW because the PV consequence on the time of the ability outage went to the very least 17 GW.

However, moreover nuclear reactor, which supplied 3.4 GW, had been eliminated the grid as a preventive motion.

Is excessive PV energy a bother for electrical energy grids?

It is recorded that Spain’s energy grid hyperlinks to France and Portugal had been topped all through the ability outage. However, it’s nonetheless unsure whether or not this was the supply of the ability outage in Spain or among the many trigger and impact.

What is explicit is that Spain exported an web complete quantity of three GW quickly previous to the grid interference. As an end result of the disruption to the high-voltage line, this surplus was unexpectedly supplied inSpain Such an occasion would definitely actually be a major fear for any kind {of electrical} energy grid.

Vahrenholt thinks that the decreased number of coal and nuclear reactor in Spain was an additional bother, because the turbines of such nuclear energy plant can supply to clean regularities.

This supporting affect, known as instant e-book, was presumably doing not have in Spain, composed Enrique Garralaga, a caring for supervisor at a subsidiary of the German PV component provider SMA, in a LinkedIn post.

“Technical solutions are available”

Fraunhofer scientist Rogalla verified that this could have added to the ability outage nonetheless he had a numerous viewpoint: “The blackout in Spain was not a PV failure, but probably a system failure,” he claimed, together with that “in this respect, I see it as an urgent reminder that the restructuring of the energy system poses major challenges.”

With the techniques mounted in the present day, it isn’t possible to run an influence grid with photo voltaic and wind energy alone, he claimed. He moreover denied the case {that a} excessive proportion of renewable sources was an unresolvable bother. “We are constantly learning. The technical solutions are now available, now we have to set about implementing them.”

The outbound German federal authorities detailed a possible means forward in a roadmap. The governing authority, the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, or ACER, has at present submitted a proposition for the execution of brand-new choices at EU diploma.

Conclusion: The idea that ‘a surplus of solar (power)’ was the issue for the ability outage cannot be validated. Although a excessive proportion of eco-friendly electrical energy within the grid is simply one of many important difficulties of the ability change, it isn’t an unresolvable bother.

This quick article was initially launched in German.