Spain’s unprecedented power outage sparks a blackout blame game over green energy

A catastrophic power outage affecting much of Spain, Portugal and the south of France has thrust the role of renewables and energy security into the spotlight.

An abrupt and widespread blackout, one of Europe’s worst in living memory, affected the entire Iberian Peninsula on April 28.

The outage, which lasted for several hours, plunged much of the region into darkness, stranded thousands of train passengers and left millions without phone or internet coverage or access to cash from ATMs.

Spanish authorities have since launched several investigations to determine the root cause of the incident, including a probe into whether a cyberattack could be to blame.

Alongside Spanish opposition parties, some external observers have flagged renewables and net-zero emissions targets as possible reasons for the outage, particularly given Spain and Portugal both rely on high levels of wind and solar for their electricity grid.

“It’s very sad to see what’s happened to Portugal and Spain and so many people there, but you know, when you hitch your wagon to the weather, it’s just a risky endeavor,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on April 28.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the country’s grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE) have both said record levels of renewable energy were not at fault for the blackout.

European Union energy chief Dan Jorgensen, meanwhile, said that there was “nothing unusual” about the sources of energy supplying electricity to the system at the time of the outage.

“So, the causes of the blackout cannot be reduced to a specific source of energy, for instance renewables,” he added.

European energy technology companies called for observers to refrain from drawing their own conclusions in the absence of a formal explanation from authorities.

Henrik Andersen, CEO of Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, said he’d encourage “a degree of statesmanship” over the blackout, particularly as Spanish policymakers continue to investigate.

“First of all, energy security means that you can run societies without having blackouts. That’s stating the obvious,” Andersen told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday.

“Everyone is grasping quick root causes and blaming each other, and I simply just don’t want to go there because until we know the root cause of why grids can fail across Spain and Portugal, let’s not second guess or try to blame someone at cybersecurity or blame individual energy sources,” he added.

“Europe needs more energy — and we probably also need a stronger grid. That goes without saying,” Andersen said.

Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch, meanwhile, said the German energy tech group was holding talks with the relevant transmission and utility operators following the blackout.

“What you do see is that when you build an energy system, you need to think about the generation, like solar, wind, gas, whatever, but you also need to think about how the overall system on the grid side [is[ operating and how you stabilize that,” Bruch told CNBC on Thursday.

“This is sometimes underestimated in its complexity, and this is why products from us for grid stabilizations are in demand at the moment to balance these things out,” he continued.

“It’s possible to solve it but it will require investments and it’s not easy. It’s not just a couple of solar cells and some batteries. It’s a little bit more complex than this,” Bruch said.

For those on the ground at the time of the outage, the lack of power underlined the challenges of a digital society.

“Cash suddenly becomes really important,” Roseanna, a resident of the southern Spanish city of Málaga, told CNBC. She said she only had 40 euros ($45.16) available when the power cut just after midday.

“Obviously you can’t get money out and you can’t pay with card, so it’s certainly important to have a little bit of cash in your pocket at all times,” she continued.

“We’ve gone all digital but the system’s ruined if there’s no electricity,” Roseanna said.

— CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.