Spain is a unique case in Europe: it has managed to ensure that gas and coal barely influence the wholesale price of electricity – only 19% of the hours this year, compared to 75% in 2019. according to a report by Ember. Thanks to this, the average Spanish wholesale price was 32% lower than the European one. However, something does not add up: the consumer still paying an expensive billwhy doesn’t the receipt go down?
Let’s go in parts. Since 2019, Spain has added more than 40 GW of new solar and wind capacity, doubling its renewable power. In the first half of this year, 46% of the electricity generated was clean. But on April 28, 2025 came the blow of reality: the great blackout. A concatenation of electrical failures and lack of operating margin left much of the country in the dark for hours.
The ENTSO-E preliminary report discarded that renewables were the direct cause, but it did reveal a structural problem: the Spanish network was not prepared for so much intermittent generation without sufficient flexibility. Since then, Red Eléctrica operates the system in “reinforced mode”activating more combined gas cycles to stabilize the voltage. According to Emberthat strategy has come at a high cost: in May, gas-based network services represented 57% of the final price of electricity, compared to the usual 14% before the blackout.
The underlying problem. Spain produces more clean electricity than ever, but cannot fully take advantage of it. The lack of grid, storage and interconnections is leaving thousands of solar and wind megawatts unused. Although there is now a plan in place to reinforce those connections that act as a bottleneckthe reality is that when there is excess clean energy and it cannot be exported, it is “thrown away”. He curtailment (wasted renewable energy) has tripled since the blackout, going from 1.8% to 7.2%, according to Ember.
Furthermore, the country continues to lag behind in flexibility. Regarding investment in batteries, it arrives late: Spain is placed in fourth position in the electricity market, but it is thirteenth in batteries, with only 120 MW installed. Despite to have planned a total of 16,000 MW planned for 2030.
The reason for these problems is structural and can be understood with the investment made in networks of such only 30 cents For every euro allocated to renewables, half the European average. In other words, we have more sun than cables.
The cost of fear. The problem is not only technical, but economic. As the analyst Javier Blas recalledoperate in reinforced modeeither since April it has cost consumers an additional billion dollars. And that is just the beginning: the approval of the new re-reinforced mode could add another 3,000 million euros and open the door to increases in fixed rates by the marketers, as the UNEF has detailed in statements to El Español.
The cost of keeping the network “in tension” is transferred directly to the invoices, even if the wholesale price is low. Ember’s own report points out that the wholesale market price It only covers approximately half of the electricity bill, the so-called “energy component.” The rest – networks, tolls, taxes, stability of the system – does not decrease even if electricity becomes cheaper at source. Therefore, falling wholesale prices do not automatically translate into lower bills.
The ghost of the blackout again. Six months have been enough for another feared blackout to return. Red Eléctrica warned of “sudden voltage variations” in the peninsular system, so serious that it asked the CNMC for permission to urgently modify several operating procedures. Among the measures: more room for maneuver to act before the operating day begins and stricter control of reactive voltage. An express adjustment of the country’s electrical operations to contain the ups and downs of voltage, just as my partner described.
The REE itself insisted that “there is no imminent risk of a blackout,” but the truth is that no one is calm. “The grid operator has been operating in reinforced mode since April 29, activating gas plants with greater intensity and reducing solar and wind energy,” Blas pointed out. Every day that passes in these conditions adds costs that end up being passed on to customers. The ghost of the blackout is still there: less visible, but more expensive.
From patches to clean flexibility. After the blackout a reform package was approved (Royal Decree-Law 7/2025) with measures to strengthen the network and promote storage. Although the decree was rejected in Congress, many of its provisions are being applied in other ways. Among them, the installation of eight synchronous compensators stands out—devices that stabilize voltage without using fossil fuels—and a portfolio of 2,600 MW of batteries, of which 340 MW already have permission.
From Ember has been calculated that the compensators will involve an investment of 750 million euros, but will save 200 million a year by reducing the use of gas for network services. The objective is clear: to move from gas as a crutch to clean flexibility as the basis of the system.
The Spanish paradox. Spain is Europe’s energy laboratory: the country where renewables have shown that they can reduce the wholesale price, but also where it is clearer to see how expensive it is to sustain this transition without robust networks. As explains Ember’s reportaround 50% of the Spanish electricity bill corresponds to the energy component, which has become cheaper. The rest are system costs and from there, although the megawatt-hour does not cost less, the final bill barely goes down.
A major challenge. Spain has shown that it can have the cheapest electricity in Europe and, at the same time, one of the highest bills.
Because the energy transition is not measured only in megawatts or solar panels, but in cables, stability and trust. The challenge now is not to produce more clean energy, but to make it arrive—and be paid for—fairly.
Image | Unsplash
Xataka | A ghost haunts Spain: the ghost of another massive blackout caused by network tension problems
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