A catastrophic blackout in Spain and Portugal has spotlighted Europe’s outdated grid, with experts urging a trillion-dollar overhaul to avoid collapse amid green energy demands.

Byline:By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

Europe’s shift toward renewable energy has run headlong into a worsening infrastructure crisis, culminating in the worst blackout in Spain and Portugal’s history. As last week’s outage plunged 60 million people into darkness within seconds, analysts now warn that without a massive and urgent overhaul of Europe’s electrical grid, the continent’s energy transition could unravel.

The blackout—caused by a sudden 60% drop in power generation—was linked to a high-voltage line failure between France and Spain, according to Euronews. Spain’s reliance on intermittent wind and solar energy compounded the situation, as automatic safety protocols disconnected renewable sources when the grid frequency dropped. The failure highlights a growing dilemma: how to reconcile green energy expansion with grid stability.

According to the International Energy Agency, Europe requires $600 billion per year in grid upgrades by 2030—double current investment levels—to accommodate a surge in electric vehicles, data centers, and renewable power generation. Half the continent’s transmission lines are more than 40 years old.

Spain’s grid, in particular, suffers from weak interconnections, with just 5% of its power capacity linked to neighboring countries. The EU’s goal is 15% by 2030. José Luis Domínguez-García of Spain’s IREC research center said more connections to France and Morocco are needed to help Spain manage demand surges and avoid isolation during future crises.

Another structural weakness was exposed in Spain’s plan to shut all seven of its nuclear reactors by 2035, removing critical baseload capacity. During last week’s outage, solar and wind facilities lacked the inertia to stabilize frequency drops, disconnecting and exacerbating the collapse.

The European Commission estimates that the EU will need between $2 and $2.3 trillion in grid investment by 2050. Last year’s €80 billion ($90.5 billion) spent by European firms falls far short. Storage capacity is also insufficient. Europe currently has 10.8 gigawatts of battery storage, compared to the 200 gigawatts experts say are needed by the end of the decade.

The Spain-Portugal blackout follows a pattern of increasing grid instability. A substation fire halted operations at London’s Heathrow Airport in March, and several undersea cable disruptions have sparked sabotage concerns. Experts say the blackouts are a wake-up call that political ambitions must be matched with technical readiness.

If not addressed, analysts warn, Europe’s green transition could become increasingly unreliable—placing energy security, public safety, and economic growth at risk.