Power outages in Europe

European power cut causes chaos - 26th May 2025

Spain and Portugal have experienced a massive power outage, which even affected parts of southern France. However, finding the cause of the disastrous incident, which began between 12.30 and 12.35 on 28th April, has seen people blaming each other.

The initial, localised outages saw lights go out in south-west Spain. The internet dropped and mobile phones had little or no connectivity. Shops reliant on networked systems were forced to close, and cash machines couldn't be used As the outage spread rapidly across the country, trains came to a halt, leaving people stranded. With airports resorting to generators, many flights suffered cancellation or severe disruption.

Meanwhile, in major cities like Madrid, people gathered outdoors, enjoying games and making conversation. Having little to do, others simply opted for a siesta.

Although first reports implied that the outage was due to a cyber attack, this was quickly dismissed. Teresa Ribera of the European Commission stated that no suspicious activity had been found. Other reports suggested rare meteorological conditions had affected power lines. Although sources claimed this had originated from the Portuguese electric network, REN, it later denied making this statement.

Another more widely accepted theory relates to Spain's renewable energy sources. A leader in green energy production, renewables powered 56 percent of the nation's energy consumption last year. Despite this, clean energy production's more intermittent, posing a challenge for a grid designed for traditional energy generation.

The outage may have been a failure in 'grid balancing', which ensures the network matches electricity production and consumption. Traditionally, this meant powering up or shutting down power stations. However, balancing clean energy production requires a more sophisticated approach. The cost of updating the system across Europe's estimated at over three trillion euros.

While governments, producers and environmentalists are all being blamed, the outages highlighted some additional challenges for an increasingly digital society.