How public and official responses have prevented a crisis

For Spain and Portugal, 28 April 2025 will go down in history as the day of “el gran apagón,” the big blackout. The outage, which affected the two countries simultaneously, was one of the 15 largest power cuts in world history in terms of the number of people affected, with over 58 million people experiencing its consequences.

What made it particularly remarkable was not only its magnitude, but also the response by the authorities and the public. Unlike other major historical blackouts, such as those that hit North America in 2003 and India in 2012, the response of the authorities, grid operators and supply companies made it possible to reduce the impact on critical infrastructures.

Restoration of service progressed throughout the day as hospitals, airports and essential services remained operational thanks to their backup systems, a clear demonstration of the importance of robust emergency protocols.

Coordinated protocols

A key factor in this relatively quick response was the action of REDEIA, the Spanish grid operator, which has more than four decades of experience in managing the country’s high-voltage transmission system. Their social media explanations on how recovery is progressing continue to be particularly invaluable.

The company activated its contingency protocols, and coordinated with its Portuguese counterpart, REN (Redes Energéticas Nacionais). This cross-border collaboration was essential to isolating the initial failure and preventing a domino effect that could have caused the blackout to spread to other European regions.

The blackout has also highlighted the importance of maintaining continuous investment in real-time monitoring technologies and smart grid management systems. These systems allow anomalies to be detected quickly and responded to accurately, even for incidents on an enormous scale involving interconnected electricity systems like Europe’s.

Causes and lessons learned

While investigations to determine the exact causes of the blackout are still ongoing, initial hypotheses point to technical factors. While some have suggested an intentional attack, there is currently no evidence that this is the case.

The incident underscores the need to continue strengthening electricity infrastructures to make them more resilient to extreme events, especially in the face of energy transition and climate change. Although fundamental for sustainability, the increasing integration of renewable energies in the Iberian energy mix poses new challenges to grid stability that will require innovative solutions.

The public’s response was also key to the response, with few incidents reported despite the magnitude of the power outage. The emergency services recorded a high but manageable volume of calls, but these came mainly from people seeking information rather than in critical situations.

Social media, accessible through battery-powered mobile devices, served as an alternative information channel, allowing authorities to share recommendations and updates on progress in restoring service. Radio also became essential, as it did in previous emergency situations such as the October 2024 floods in Valencia and Storm Filomena in 2021.

Major implications for Europe

The blackout will have major repercussions for the European Union’s energy policies. While the Iberian system has proven its resilience, the incident reinforces the need to boost investments in electricity interconnections between EU Member States, and in energy storage systems that can provide emergency backup.

The European Commission has already announced that it will study the power outage in detail in order to draw conclusions about the continental electricity grid as a whole, as part of its objectives in the European Green Pact and decarbonization strategy for 2050.

Despite its historic magnitude, the Iberian blackout has demonstrated that preparedness, investment in robust infrastructures and effective coordination between operators are decisive factors in minimizing the impact of this type of crisis. The responses of REDEIA and REN, together with the public’s responsible behavior, has turned what could have been a catastrophe into a case study in the management of energy emergencies.

As the peninsula’s energy supply is still gradually being restored, work is already underway to strengthen an energy system that, despite the events of 28 April, has confirmed its position among the most reliable and advanced in the world.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.