Articles · National Centre note, circulated with Circular 01/2025
Note on the Iberian blackout — causes, consequences and policy
EEFI Centre
Spain, Portugal and southern France, 28–29 April 2025. Six crore people. Coupled private grids without public control — a warning for POWERGRID, NTPC and the Indian coupling projects.
On 28–29 April 2025 a massive failure cut electricity across Spain, Portugal and parts of southern France. About six crore people were without supply for more than twelve hours.
At that hour wind and solar contributed about 80 percent of electricity in Spain and Portugal. A sudden 1.2 GW drop in solar output moved the frequency. Ageing 400 kV lines oscillated. Private operators had expanded renewable plant far faster than they had strengthened the grid.
European grids are coupled without proper public control. Frequency movement in Spain passed into neighbouring countries. The same questions stand over monetisation of Indian grids, heavy dependence on variable renewables, and One Sun One World One Grid.
The technical causes are not all closed. What is closed is the political line: integrated public governance of generation, transmission and distribution. Energy security is a public mandate, not a market commodity. The full English and Hindi notes are on Documents.