One year after Spain suffered its worst blackout in recent memory, the country's shift towards renewable energy has accelerated, with new data showing record solar capacity additions. The blackout, which also affected much of Portugal, was initially blamed on solar power, but subsequent investigations found the cause was a 'perfect storm' of governance failures related to voltage control.
According to the final report by pan-European grid operator ENTSO-E, the blackout was not caused by a lack of inertia from renewables, as some had claimed. Instead, it resulted from voltage oscillations that triggered a cascading failure. Despite the incident, Spain has continued to expand its renewable capacity, adding 13.8 gigawatts of solar in 2025, up from 12.3 gigawatts in 2024.
Chris Rosslowe, senior energy analyst at Ember, noted that Spain's trajectory towards reducing fossil fuels and increasing renewables has strengthened since the blackout. While there was a temporary increase in gas-fired generation to help stabilise the grid, this was due to a lack of alternatives such as battery storage or synchronous condensers, not a shift away from renewables.
The blackout also prompted regulatory changes. Since April, renewable technologies have been allowed to provide voltage compensation services, a move that analysts say should have happened earlier. 'It is unfortunate that a blackout had to occur to change regulation,' said an energy expert.
Spain's investment in renewables has also helped insulate it from the recent surge in gas prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Without the growth in wind and solar, wholesale electricity prices would have been 40% higher in the first half of 2024, according to Professor Jan Rosenow of the University of Oxford.
