Blackouts and Silver Linings: Balancing electrical networks in the age of renewable energy
April 28th, 2025: a widespread blackout leaves 60 million people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France without power for more than 10 hours .After several weeks of finger pointing among experts, the government finally declares that photovoltaic production is not to blame. In fact, multiple power plants, including thermal and nuclear generators, have failed to provide adequate voltage control and dynamic reactive power support despite being physically capable and financially incentivised to do so.But does this tell the whole story?In this note, we review the facts and attempt to demonstrate th...