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The Spanish government said on Sunday that it would need ‘several more days’ to determine the cause of the nationwide power outage on 28 April, which also extended into Portugal and parts of southwestern France.
In an interview with Spain’s El País, the country’s Minister of Ecological Transition and third deputy prime minister, Sara Aagesen (main image), said that ‘all hypotheses’ were still under consideration, including the possibility of a cyberattack. Aagesen was previously Spain’s Secretary of State for Energy. ALSO READ: Spain’s high court to open investigation as to possible cyberattack, as business sector counts cost.
One theory being examined involves solar panel installations in southeastern Spain potentially destabilising the electrical grid – an explanation that grid operator Red Eléctrica has already proposed.
‘We know that those installations stopped working in the system,’ Aagesen confirmed.
However, she cautioned against drawing conclusions too soon: ‘Talking about solar panels (as the cause) might be hasty,’ adding that blaming renewable energy for the incident was ‘irresponsible and simplistic’. ALSO READ: Spain’s opposition parties blame PM’s renewable energy policies for blackout.
The outage disrupted power across Spain, disabling mobile and internet services, halting train operations, and leaving hundreds trapped in elevators. ALSO READ: Power blackout affects 60 million people across Spain and Portugal.
Some specialists have speculated that the incident may have stemmed from a failure to maintain the grid’s balance between electricity supply and demand, potentially triggered by a sudden fluctuation in renewable sources such as wind or solar.
Aagesen pushed back on claims that an influx of renewable power overwhelmed the system, noting that renewables have long been part of Spain’s energy framework. She stressed that previous days with higher solar output and lower consumption had not led to problems, and the grid had ‘functioned very well’.
‘Renewable energy allows Spain to achieve a great deal of energy independence in a geopolitically vulnerable world,’ she said.
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ALSO READ: Spain’s power supply almost fully restored after one of EU’s worst blackouts.
“Puedo comprender perfectamente la frustración de los españoles (…) Pero hablamos de un sistema eléctrico que es muy complejo”, dice Sara Aagesen. “Señalar a las renovables como motivo del incidente del cero en España me parece irresponsable y simplista” https://t.co/KwyTw51KhV
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) May 4, 2025
«No es riguroso y es muy imprudente entrar a hacer valoraciones de qué ha ocurrido sin tener toda la información certera.
Señalar a las renovables me parece irresponsable y simplista»
📰 Entrevista de VP Sara Aagesen en @el_pais https://t.co/lHrpuurrBZ pic.twitter.com/mONXkLLwOn
— Transición Ecológica y Reto Demográfico (@mitecogob) May 4, 2025
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