Spain's Minister Defends Renewable Energy After Historic Blackout
Spain's Environment Minister, Sara Aagesen, has cautioned against attributing the recent unprecedented blackout across the Iberian Peninsula to the growing reliance on renewable energy. Aagesen defended the reliability of Spain's national electricity grid, promising a thorough audit to determine the causes of the outage that occurred on Monday.
During a press conference on Wednesday, as a committee prepared to investigate the blackout, Aagesen rebutted claims from opposition parties that the socialist-led government's push for renewable energy has jeopardized grid stability. She stated that the electricity generated on Monday derived from a blend of sources, with solar power contributing nearly 55%, followed by 10% from wind, nuclear, and hydraulic power each. "The system has worked perfectly under similar circumstances in the past, so it seems inappropriate to blame renewables when the grid has functioned reliably in similar contexts," she noted.
Opponents of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez have argued in recent days that he advanced plans to prioritize renewable sources over nuclear power without considering potential repercussions, insinuating that he is now attempting to shift blame onto private energy companies due to the blackout. The Conservative People's Party (PP) accused Sánchez of conducting an information blackout regarding the incident, while Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, directly linked the power outage to Sánchez's policies.
Additionally, some have pointed to a recent report from Redeia, the parent company of Red Eléctrica, which cautioned that the extensive integration of renewable generation without the required technical capacity could result in production cuts and severe blackouts that might disrupt electricity supply.
Despite these concerns, Aagesen asserted that renewable energy is crucial for Spain’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy. "We have abundant native resources like sun and wind, while lacking fossil fuels and uranium. Our commitment to transforming the energy system to be more renewable is shared by a lot of businesses," she emphasized.
Earlier on Wednesday, Beatriz Corredor, the president of Red Eléctrica, indicated that the cause of the blackout had been identified, although she was still analyzing a vast amount of data. "We know the cause and have tracked it down to some extent, but the data influx is immense with signals sent every millisecond," Corredor explained on Cadena Ser radio. She refused to resign over the situation, stressing that resigning would imply that the correct actions were not taken, which she argued was not the case.
Corredor also criticized the perception linking the blackout to Spain's increasing reliance on renewable energy, asserting, "The renewables mix is safe and is compatible with the safety systems of the electrical operating system. Linking Monday’s incident to renewable energy is incorrect; renewable sources operate reliably."
Sánchez was more direct in his remarks, stating, "Those who associate this incident with the lack of nuclear power are either lying or demonstrating their ignorance," and added that the resilience of nuclear power generation is not superior to that of other energy sources.
The Prime Minister convened an urgent meeting on Tuesday evening with the heads of Spain's private energy operators, including Corredor and representatives from Iberdrola, Endesa, EDP, Acciona Energía, and Naturgy to discuss the blackout. He expressed that the committee would investigate the role of private energy firms and urged cooperation to quickly resolve the issue.
Aagesen mentioned that several operators had already provided significant amounts of data, with additional information expected shortly. "As soon as we identify the cause of this event, we will implement all necessary measures to prevent recurrence," she concluded.
The investigations are concentrating on the incident that occurred at 12:33 PM on Monday, when 15 gigawatts of energy that were being produced—equivalent to 60% of total energy consumption—vanished suddenly. Spain has set a goal to generate 81% of its electricity from renewable sources by the end of the decade, following a record 56% contribution from renewables last year.
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