#85 When the Lights Go Out: Lessons from the Iberian Blackout (with Kjetil Uhlen, NTNU IEL)

On 28 April, the entire Iberian Peninsula plunged into darkness in under 30 seconds. How can a modern, interconnected grid fail so spectacularly—and what does it teach the rest of Europe?

I sat down with Kjetil Obstfelder Uhlen—Professor at NTNU's Department of Electric Energy and special adviser to Statnett—to reconstruct the split-second cascade that tripped lines from France to Morocco, sent frequency crashing below 50 Hz, and left millions without power.

Together we talk about:

• Why a single imbalance spiralled into a continent-wide blackout

• The hard limits of interconnection, inertia and protection schemes

• Whether renewables were really to blame—or just convenient scapegoats

• How Norway’s hydro-heavy grid would cope with a similar shock

• Concrete fixes: synthetic inertia, smarter system-protection, and cross-border coordination