Spain’s Energy Security Strategy, which has remained without update since 2015, is under scrutiny following the recent mass blackout.
The strategy, developed from the 2013 National Security Strategy, the 29-page document aimed to prepare the state for complex energy challenges by outlining proactive measures. Nonetheless, a decade without updates has left it out of kilter with current geopolitical situations, including the 2020 pandemic, the 2021 supply chain disruptions, the 2021-2022 energy crisis, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to EU sanctions hitting energy prices.
The 2015 strategy focused on five principle areas: Spain’s role in global energy, defining national energy security, addressing challenges like rising demand and market volatility, governance within national security, and action plans, including diversifying the energy source mix and securing supply. It highlighted nuclear energy as an important domestic resource in complementing renewables like wind, solar, and hydropower to balance reliance on imported oil and gas (from Russia).
Despite a 2020 order under Pedro Sánchez’s government to review the strategy, progress has stagnated. The 2021 National Security Report mentioned initial review efforts, but by 2023, the focus shifted from ‘energy security’ to ‘energy vulnerability’, warned of delays.
Multiple blamed for Spain’s lack of energy security
Monday, April 28’s blackout, attributed by energy experts to Red Eléctrica’s mismanagement, exposed vulnerabilities, as well as finger-pointing to atmospheric phenomena never before experienced that had no effect on satellites or other electronics, an apparent power surplus that has never happened before, and even private electricity suppliers.
The Spanish national grid, Red Eléctrica, failed to mitigate risks by, supposedly, prioritising green energy, and that caused a cross-Europe blackout, or so it is said. The electric companies consistently pointed to Red Eléctrica’s role, showing the urgency to update Spain’s outdated energy security framework to prevent future crises. No one in power seems to want to mention the current geopolitical tensions and a possibility of sabotage, in spite of the previous that suspect number one has.
