Market history · Infrastructure ·
Spain and Portugal lose power in a continental blackout
At 12:33 CEST on 28 April 2025 continental Spain and Portugal suffered a total blackout, with several industrial consumers and generators also affected in south-west France. The European network operators' association, ENTSO-E, set up an expert panel to find the cause.
The panel's final report, published in March 2026, concluded that the blackout resulted from a combination of many interacting factors. These included oscillations, gaps in the control of voltage and reactive power, differences in voltage-regulation practices, rapid output reductions and generator disconnections in Spain, and uneven stabilisation capability. Together these caused fast rises in voltage and cascading disconnections of generation in Spain.
Independent analysts noted that the evidence did not support the idea that too much renewable generation alone caused the event; the report pointed instead to how the system was controlled.
The takeaway
Essential networks are valuable because they are reliable, and the cost of making them resilient is part of what regulators and owners must fund.
Sources
This is a retrospective about a past event, provided for general information. It is not investment advice, does not describe RockLake's positioning at the time, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. Read the risk warning.