Spain woke up this Wednesday, January 28, 2026, under the effects of a storm of cold, snow and wind that has gone beyond the collapses on the roads. The storm Kristin has not only covered in white the center of the Peninsulacausing major traffic jams and a rise in teleworking in Madrid, but has also forced the system operator, Red Eléctrica de España (REE), to execute emergency measures to prevent the electrical balance from being compromised.
Two hours of tension. Between 08:00 and 10:00 in the morning, REE was forced to activate the call Active Demand Response Service (SRAD). The reason was a specific but severe mismatch between generation and available demand. According to operator datathe system suffered a deficit of just over 2 gigawatts (GW).
The forecast pointed to an operating power of 38,526 MW, but reality remained at a peak of 36,517 MW at 08:50 hours. This imbalance, which is technically known as a problem in the so-called “morning ramps“was due to a paradoxical phenomenon: excess wind. Although wind power is a key piece of the electricity mix, when gusts exceed certain safety thresholds, the wind turbines must be disconnected to avoid structural damage.
The “wind blackout.” This phenomenon made the actual production would plummet to 7,500 MW, compared to the 12,500 MW initially planned. Added to this factor was a “secondary effect” from Portugal, where the storm also caused havoc, forcing imports to be reduced of electricity to Spain from 2,300 MW to just 800 MW.
As wind energy expert Sergio Fernández Munguía explains on their social networksthis disconnection is not an anomaly, but rather an automatic protection mechanism. In situations of extremely strong winds, higher than the operating limits of the wind turbines – around 25 meters per second, about 90 kilometers per hour – the turbines are stopped preventively to guarantee their integrity. A physical limit that makes extreme wind an operational risk factor for renewable generation.
The “red button” for the industry. The SRAD is the successor to the old “interruptibility”. This is a mechanism included in Operation Procedure (OP) 7.5 which allows REE order large industrial consumers to temporarily reduce or stop their consumption to relieve the network and guarantee reserve levels.
Around thirty companies from different sectors and sizes participate in the service, with a minimum demand of 1 MW. These companies receive a reward both for being available and for each effective activation. In the last auction, held on November 28, 2025, 1,725 MW were awarded for the first half of 2026, with a total cost of 255 million euros that ends up having an impact on consumers’ electricity bills.
This Wednesday’s execution took place in two blocks. The first, 865 MW, at a price of 116.47 euros per MWh; and a second block of 860 MW at 120.90 euros per MWh. In total, 1,725 MW of industrial power was paralyzed, the maximum available in this period.
The role of gas and criticism of the system. Given the fall of wind power and practically no solar production at those early hours, the system depended on gas backup. The combined cycles went from generating about 3,000 MW at 6:00 in the morning to more than 8,000 MW at 9:00. However, this effort was not enough to fully offset the loss of renewable generation.
According to industry sources consulted by The Energy Newspaperaround twenty combined cycle plants – around 8,000 additional MW – were not coupled or in immediate operational reserve, which prevented their rapid entry into the system and precipitated the order to stop industrial consumption.
What can we expect in the coming months? Despite the spectacular nature of the measure, the official message is one of calm. Electrical Network has underlined in its statements that “the continuity of supply has not been compromised at any time” and that the activation of the SRAD has the sole objective of guaranteeing the system’s safety reserve levels.
However, the scenario for 2026 poses relevant challenges. The operator estimates that during this first half of the year around twenty SRAD activation orders could be issued if similar stress situations are repeated. This mechanism is not the last link in the security chain, but it is a critical defense against abrupt power variations in a system with a high penetration of variable renewable energies.
The challenge of intermittency. What happened this Wednesday once again puts on the table the challenges of operating an electrical system that is increasingly dependent on the weather. The rapid activation of the SRAD and the support of gas prevented greater evils, but the episode reinforces the need to have firm reserves – such as hydraulics and combined cycles – and industrial flexibility mechanisms capable of shielding the network against unforeseen meteorological events in the future.
Image | Unsplash
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