Lessons from Spain

Michael Liebreich · 19 May 2025 · liebreich.com ↗

2 korrents from this piece

Michael Liebreich did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
The failure of wind or solar power to show up has never been the primary cause of a major grid blackout.

Their wordsWhile renewables are almost always blamed in the aftermath of major power cuts or grid disruption - and the way they have been integrated into the grid has certainly been found to compound problems - the simple failure of wind or solar power to show up has never yet been found to be the primary cause.
Our reading
Blaming renewable energy for grid disruptions is driven by political culture-war motives rather than genuine technical understanding.

Their wordsIt's all part of the political culture wars where everything gets weaponised to push an agenda, score points against opponents or curry favour.