Iberian blackout highlights need for European grid investment

• a day ago (2025-05-29)
• David Flin

Europe 1118 Transmission 214

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The Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis has released a report which states that as operation of Europe’s electricity grid has become more complex, the Iberian blackout has demonstrated a need for investment to enable operators to handle the increased complexity of operation.

The report states that the rise of distributed generation, of consumers being able to play a producer role, energy storage and demand response have all led to making grid operation more complex.

It suggested that events like the blackout in Spain and Portugal on 28 April 2025 could become more frequent if European transmission system operators (TSOs) fail to invest in developing grid networks, identifying grid capacity, energy storage, and frequency reserve as areas that need attention.

It said that while the precise causes of the Iberian blackout have not yet been identified, the grid frequency deviated from 50 Hz, which should have triggered the start of frequency control reserves and frequency restoration reserves, but that these mechanisms were not activated quickly enough.