Overview

• The Iberian Peninsula experienced a major blackout on April 28 due to a sudden drop in solar output in southwest Spain and a subsequent failure of Spain-France interconnectors.
• Red Eléctrica, Spain’s grid operator, officially ruled out cyberattacks as the cause, attributing the event to generation-based failures within seconds of each other.
• Spain’s rapid renewable energy expansion, following its 2019 nuclear phase-out, has increased reliance on weather-dependent power sources, which lack conventional grid inertia.
• Germany’s grid resilience is considered stronger due to features like n-1 security, decentralized operators, and blackstart-capable plants, though experts warn vulnerabilities remain.
• A survey revealed 73% of Germans are unprepared for a large-scale blackout, prompting calls for improved public readiness and grid stability measures like storage and microgrids.