EU Assessments of the Iberian Blackout

On April 28, Spain lost roughly 60% of its electricity generation capacity in less than five seconds. The blackout shut down critical infrastructure including transportation and communications networks, stranded travelers, and caused other widespread disruptions, some of which lasted for days.

Officials continue to investigate what might have produced the blackout. So far, it does not appear to have been a cyberattack; power loss at a single substation appears to have triggered a cascading grid collapse. Politicians and commentators continue to debate whether Spain’s heavy reliance on variable renewable power—about two weeks earlier, Spain’s electric grid operated with 100% renewable power for the first time on a weekday—may have contributed to the instability that brought down the system. Whatever occurred, the event could have important policy and political consequences across the European Union, which has emphasized renewable power both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to replace generation capacity lost following the near-total shutdown of Russia’s pipeline natural gas deliveries in 2022.

On May 28, the Center for the National Interest hosted two experts to discuss.

—Tomasz Chmal is a partner in Trzeciak Chmal, a Warsaw-based strategic and regulatory advisory firm. A former director of the Department of International and European Law in Poland’s General Prosecutor’s office, he was the long-time head of the Energy and National Resources practice in the Warsaw office of White & Case.

—Dr. Andreas Goldthau is Director of the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at the University of Erfurt, where he is also Franz Haniel Chair for Public Policy on the Faculty of Economics, Law, and Social Sciences. A leading academic expert on Europe’s energy system, he has written several books on EU and global energy policy.

Paul Saunders, the President of the Center for the National Interest, moderated the discussion.