A virtual presentation by the Energy Thematic Group
On April 28, 2025, at 12:33 CEST, Spain and Portugal experienced a total power blackout, the most severe in Europe in over two decades. While the outage briefly affected parts of southwest France, the rest of the continent’s grid remained stable. Power was restored in under 12 hours, thanks to rapid activation of special-purpose reserve generation and interconnections with France and Morocco.
To investigate the root causes, the European Network of Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in Europe (ENTSO-E) assembled a panel of 45 independent experts. The ENTSO-E fact-finding report was issued on October 3, 2025, providing a detailed technical account of the event and establishing the basis for the final report. The presentation will highlight technical constraints potentially at the origin of large-scale blackouts, including the Iberian event, and discuss challenges for large power grids, particularly as economies undergo rapid electrification and renewable-based power systems continue to expand.
Speaker: Daniel Dobbeni is a Belgian energy executive with over five decades of experience in power and sustainable energy systems. He advises both multinationals as well as private equity firms and serves on the boards of several European energy companies. He was the founding president of ENTSO-E, the association of Transmission System Operators from 36 European countries, shaping European energy policy and system integration. He holds an MSc in Nuclear Physics and Information Technologies.
Moderator: Dejan Ostojic, retired World Bank Lead Energy Specialist and Member of Supervisory Board of EPS JSC.
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