In April, Spain suffered a nationwide blackout that lasted nearly a full day. It was a traumatic event for one of Europe’s fastest adopters of solar power, tripling capacity in just five years. The outage sparked a big question: Was solar to blame? And what will it take to avoid blackouts in the renewables era? Bloomberg Green’s Laura Millan joins Akshat Rathi on Zero to unpack the lessons from the Iberian Peninsula and the technologies that could make such blackouts a thing of the past.

Explore further:
The Fix for Solar Power Blackouts Is Already Here
Past episodes of the Bottlenecks Series 

The Green Transition Needs More Workers
There Aren’t Enough Cables to Meet Growing Electricity Demand
The One Device Throttling the World’s Electrified Future

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Eleanor Harrison Dengate, Siobhan Wagner, Sommer Saadi and Mohsis Andam. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

In April, Spain suffered a nationwide blackout that lasted nearly a full day. It was a traumatic event for one of Europe&rsquo;s fastest adopters of solar power, tripling capacity in just five years. The outage sparked a big question: Was solar to blame? And what will it take to avoid blackouts in the renewables era? Bloomberg Green&rsquo;s Laura Millan joins Akshat Rathi on Zero to unpack the lessons from the Iberian Peninsula and the technologies that could make such blackouts a thing of the past.
Explore further:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-bottlenecks-blackouts-grid-stability-solar-wind/">The Fix for Solar Power Blackouts Is Already Here</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Past episodes of the Bottlenecks Series&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="2"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-06-05/the-green-transition-needs-more-workers">The Green Transition Needs More Workers</a></li>
<li aria-level="2"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-12/there-aren-t-enough-cables-to-meet-growing-electricity-demand">There Aren&rsquo;t Enough Cables to Meet Growing Electricity Demand</a></li>
<li aria-level="2"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-bottlenecks-transformers/">The One Device Throttling the World&rsquo;s Electrified Future</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Eleanor Harrison Dengate, Siobhan Wagner, Sommer Saadi and Mohsis Andam. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

Zero is about the tactics and technologies taking us to a world of zero emissions. Each week Bloomberg’s award-winning reporter Akshat Rathi talks to the people tackling climate change – a venture capitalist hunting for the best cleantech investment, scientists starting companies, politicians who have successfully created climate laws, and CEOs who have completely transformed their businesses. The road to zero emissions has many paths and everyone’s got an opinion about the best route. Listen in.

Zero: The Climate Race

Zero

The 100-ton device that can stop blackouts in the renewables era: Bottlenecks Series

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f6635da5-8234-4ec5-932f-b33800e390dd/transcript

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