"Last spring, tens of millions of people lost electricity across Spain, Portugal and part of France. Trains stopped in their tracks, and people were stuck in elevators, as southwestern Europe went without power for in some cases more than ten hours. Immediately the finger-point began. Many people blamed solar and wind energy. Spain, one of Europe's front runners in renewable energy, gets about 46% of its power from solar and wind, according to the think tank Ember sometimes more than 70%."
""When you hitch your wagon to the weather," Wright said, "it's just a risky endeavor." The idea that solar and wind are inherently risky and unreliable is a common talking point for critics of renewable energy, often repeated by groups with ties to the fossil fuel industry. It's false. When renewable energy is paired with large batteries or other forms of grid management, it's proven to be reliable. Now a new report from an expert panel of European grid operators details what happened. The report finds that for the first time in Europe, a voltage surge caused the massive outage."
Tens of millions lost power across Spain, Portugal and part of France, with some areas without electricity for more than ten hours. Initial public and media reactions blamed solar and wind, despite Spain obtaining roughly 46% of its power from those sources and sometimes more than 70%. Political and industry figures amplified claims that renewables are unreliable. An expert panel of European grid operators determined that a voltage surge caused the outage, and analysts state the problem was not excessive renewable generation. Misinformation linking the blackout to renewables affected public opinion in Spain.
Read at www.npr.org
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