The Spain, Portugal power failure is a wake up call for Green Energy policies.

The wake up call will hit the oil and gas sector

While watching the massive power outage in the Spanish, Portuguese, and French markets unfold, it is worth examining what other countries and states have followed down the Green New Deal and Net-Zero energy-focused path.

That would be California, New Jersey, Delaware, Hawaii, New York, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other parts of the European Union.

The Crude Truth is that the grid needs stability and dispatchable power. Wind and solar play a wild card role in the grid.

Stu Turley has said, “The grid needs to obey the laws of physics and maintain fiscal responsibility.” - The other quote is around Turley’s Law. “The more money invested in wind and solar, the more fossil fuels will be used.”.

Both of these comments are in play today. The real question is what we will learn from the blackout in the U.S.

Spain, Portugal, and France Blackout - History

On April 28, 2025, a massive power blackout struck the Iberian Peninsula, affecting mainland Spain and Portugal, with minor impacts in Andorra and southwestern France. The outage began around 12:33 CEST (11:33 WEST) and lasted up to 18 hours in some areas, making it one of Europe’s most severe blackouts in decades. It disrupted daily life for about 55-60 million people, paralyzing transportation, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure.

What Happened:

• Scale and Impact:

  • Power was lost across most of Spain and Portugal, with electricity demand in Spain dropping from 27,500 MW to around 15,000 MW in minutes.

  • Transportation systems ground to a halt: trains stopped (116 stranded in Spain), metros were evacuated, and airports like Madrid’s Barajas and Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado faced closures and flight cancellations.

  • Traffic lights failed, causing chaos on roads. ATMs, mobile networks, and internet access were disrupted, forcing cash-only transactions and isolating communities.

  • Hospitals relied on backup generators, postponing non-critical procedures. Some water supplies were affected, prompting panic buying of bottled water.

  • At least seven deaths in Spain were linked to the outage, including cases of carbon monoxide poisoning from generators and a fire caused by a candle.

• Restoration:

  • Power restoration began in northern, southern, and western Spain by mid-afternoon on April 28. By 10 PM, 62% of Spain’s substations were back online, and Portugal restored power to 2.5 million customers by evening.

  • Full restoration was achieved by early April 29 in both countries, though transport disruptions lingered into Tuesday.

  • Portugal’s Castelo do Bode hydropower dam and Tapada do Outeiro gas plant were used to restart the grid.

Cause of the Blackout:

• Unclear Cause:

  • The exact cause remains under investigation, with no definitive explanation as of April 30, 2025. Spanish and Portuguese authorities, along with EU agencies, are probing the incident.

  • Two “disconnection events” in Spain’s southwest, likely involving solar plants, caused grid instability, leading to a collapse of the Iberian network and its disconnection from France’s grid.

  • Voltage oscillations were detected hours before the blackout, indicating grid instability. A significant fluctuation around noon saw voltage swinging by 15 volts every 1.5 seconds.

• Theories and Rejections:

  • Cyberattack: Ruled out by Spain’s Red Eléctrica, Portugal’s government, and EU officials, though Spain’s High Court is investigating it as a precaution.

  • Renewable Energy: Speculation arose due to Spain’s heavy reliance on solar (59% of power at the time) and wind (12%). Some suggested that the intermittency of renewables or insufficient grid storage contributed, but Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez and Red Eléctrica’s Beatriz Corredor dismissed this, calling it “lies” and defending the grid’s resilience.

  • Weather: Portugal’s REN initially suggested extreme temperature variations caused “induced atmospheric vibration” in high-voltage lines, but Spain’s meteorological office (Aemet) reported normal weather, and REN later retracted the claim.

  • French Connection: Spain’s grid operator pointed to a failure in its interconnection with France, while a reported fire on a French power line was dismissed by France’s RTE.

Response and Investigations:

• Government Actions:

  • Spain declared a state of emergency, deploying 30,000 police to maintain order. PM Pedro Sánchez vowed to take “all necessary measures” to prevent future outages and launched an investigative commission.

  • Portugal’s PM Luís Montenegro requested an EU audit and blamed the issue’s origin on Spain, citing a “domino effect” from Spain’s grid.

  • Both countries’ grid operators (Red Eléctrica and REN) worked with European regulators (ENTSO-E) to analyze the failure.

• Grid Operator Statements:

  • Red Eléctrica called the event “exceptional and extraordinary,” denying company error and emphasizing that 100% of substations were restored by 4 AM on April 29.

  • REN reported no direct evidence of a cyberattack or hostile act but noted the complexity of pinpointing the cause.

Broader Context:

• Grid Vulnerabilities:

  • The interconnected European grid, while efficient, can propagate faults across borders, as seen in this blackout’s brief impact on France.

  • Spain’s high renewable penetration (43% from wind and solar) has sparked debate about grid stability, particularly with limited battery storage. However, experts argue that renewables are manageable with proper infrastructure.

  • Previous European outages (e.g., Italy in 2003, Germany in 2006) highlight the rarity and severity of such events.

• Economic and Social Impact:

  • The blackout cost an estimated €2.25–4.5 billion, disrupting businesses, tourism, and daily life.

  • Stories of stranded travelers, candlelit gatherings, and “post-apocalyptic” scenes in cities like Seville underscored the human toll.

Current Status:

• As of May 1, 2025, power is fully restored, but investigations continue. Experts estimate it may take weeks or months to fully analyze forensic grid data.

• The incident has prompted calls for improved grid resilience, better storage for renewables, and preparedness measures like EU-recommended 72-hour survival kits.

This blackout exposed the fragility of modern energy systems and the challenges of managing high renewable energy loads, though no single cause has been confirmed. Ongoing probes aim to prevent future disruptions.

What should be done in the United States to protect our grid?

We can see that this was a huge life-impacting warning to all grids that are over-relying on “Renewables.”

Let’s look at ERCOT (The Texas Grid), and I will handle the other parts of the grid in future articles. Hawaii, New York, and New Jersey are all facing significant issues, which I will address in some of my upcoming articles.

The ERCOT system has a plan to learn from its major weather-related blackout and is poised to mitigate the grid's over-reliance on wind and solar, but at what cost?

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the power grid for about 90% of Texas, serving over 27 million customers. The ERCOT power mix reflects a diverse set of energy sources, with significant contributions from natural gas, wind, solar, coal, nuclear, and emerging storage technologies. Below is a detailed breakdown of the power mix based on the most recent available data up to May 1, 2025, focusing on generation by fuel type and trends in the system.

ERCOT Power Mix Overview (2024–2025 Data):

The power mix is dynamic, varying by season, time of day, and market conditions due to the intermittent nature of renewables and demand fluctuations. The following percentages are based on annual electricity generation contributions for 2024, as reported by ERCOT and supplemented by recent analyses:

• Natural Gas: ~44%

  • Natural gas is the backbone of ERCOT’s grid, providing about 44% of total electricity in 2024, slightly above its 19-year average of 43%. It includes gas steam, simple cycle, combined cycle, and reciprocating engine resources. Natural gas is critical for meeting peak demand and balancing intermittent renewables due to its fast response capabilities.

  • In 2024, natural gas maintained its dominance, with variability driven by gas prices and demand spikes during extreme weather.

• Wind: ~20–23%

  • Wind power contributed approximately 20–23% of ERCOT’s electricity in 2024, holding steady in percentage terms but growing in absolute output due to increased capacity. Texas leads the U.S. in wind power, with over 30,000 MW of installed capacity across more than 40 wind farms.

  • On January 19, 2019, wind served over 56% of demand during a low-demand period, and a record 19.7 GW was generated on January 21, 2019. Recent posts indicate wind remains a major player, often combining with solar and nuclear to meet significant portions of demand.

• Solar: ~10%

  • Solar power reached 10% of ERCOT’s total energy generation in 2024, a significant increase from prior years, reflecting rapid growth in capacity. On February 13, 2024, solar set a record of 16,668 MW, meeting ~35% of demand during peak production hours.

  • Solar is particularly impactful during daytime hours, though its contribution drops at night, necessitating backup from natural gas or storage. The growth trajectory mirrors wind’s expansion in the early 2010s.

• Coal: ~12–15%

  • Coal’s share has declined steadily, contributing about 12–15% in 2024, down from 35% in 2009. This reflects a long-term trend of coal being offset by renewables. Coal plants face challenges during extreme weather, as seen during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, when outages exacerbated grid failures.

• Nuclear: ~10%

  • Nuclear power provides a stable 10% of ERCOT’s electricity, consistent since 2009. It is a reliable baseload source, often combining with wind and solar to form a significant portion of clean energy output (e.g., ~65% of demand on high-renewable days).

• Power Storage (Batteries): ~1–2%

  • Battery storage, while still a small contributor, is growing rapidly. By 2022, ERCOT had 2 GW of grid batteries, with 6 GW more under development. Batteries are critical for managing sudden changes in renewable generation and demand, discharging during peak periods. Their output is included in the “Power Storage” category when discharging, though charging is counted as system load.

ERCOT is relying on new natural gas plants to help mitigate the impact of significant wind and solar projects, while also reducing the need for new development of wind and solar projects.

In 2024, Texas was the only state to have five new natural gas pipelines come online, and it shows in the new natural gas power plant map below. This is huge for the stability of the grid and the reduction in electricity prices.

If you are looking to expand your data center or manufacturing business, or are seeking investment opportunities, follow the pipelines and natural gas power plants.

We need all the energy we can produce, but we must minimize our environmental impact while generating electricity. As a family-owned exploration and production company, I am proud to be part of the solution, bringing low-cost energy to the Texas and United States Markets.

And that is the Crude Truth.