Could smarter grids prevent the next blackout?

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Hi everyone,

As you’ve probably seen, Spain and Portugal were recently hit by a massive wave of unexpected power outages, leaving entire cities without power for nearly 24 hours. This disrupted transport, cut electricity to homes, and reminded millions of people just how fragile our energy systems are.

The causes were likely complex and are still being investigated, but this event has highlighted evident flaws in the current energy infrastructure we all rely on.

As I’ve been reading the coverage and reports, I keep coming back to the thought that this is exactly why we need smart grids. And not in some distant future, I mean we need them now.

Here’s why.

What is a smart grid?

The term “smart grid” gets thrown around a lot, but in simple terms, it’s an electricity network that uses a combination of data, sensors and automation to manage energy in a way that’s more efficient, more predictable and more flexible.

Unlike old-style grids, which just push energy in one direction, typically from a few big power stations to lots of users, smart grids do a lot of extra work.

Firstly, they’re a lot more dynamic, so they’re able to respond in real time to outages or demand increases. They’re also decentralised, so they can integrate solar, wind, batteries and even electric cars (both as users and producers of energy). Their intelligent nature means that they can automatically adjust things like loads, reroute power and maintain balance across a wider energy setup.

In summary, smart grids help us to manage increasingly complex energy systems in a way that’s better for everyone.

Why outages keep happening

The recent outages in Spain and Portugal made headlines given their scale, but these aren’t isolated events, as more and more (whilst not country-wide) outages have been happening around the world.

The transition towards decarbonised energy is crucial, but does make energy systems naturally more complex as they rely more heavily on renewables like solar and wind that can vary significantly minute by minute.

A lot of our grid infrastructure just isn’t ready to keep up with this change, and extreme weather events that we’re seeing more and more of, like heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, not only create energy demand spikes (i.e. AC usage during heatwaves), but also create threats to infrastructure like hydropower drying up during droughts and wildfires destroying transmission cables.

Grids are under pressure to manage new, unstable load patterns, but without more flexibility and real-time control, the system becomes brittle. And that’s when blackouts happen.

How smart grids can help

Here are just a few of the ways smart grid technology is aiming to transform how we manage electricity:

Predictive analytics & AI
Machine learning can help us to forecast energy demand based on factors like the weather, historical usage patterns, and even major events. This all helps utility providers plan more accurately and avoid overloads.

Demand response
Smart meters and connected devices can automatically reduce energy use during peak times. For example water heaters can turn off briefly, or an EV could pause charging for 10 minutes when required. These small changes have no impact on our day to day lives, but can be a massive help to the grid.

Virtual power plants
Companies like Piclo, Next Kraftwerke, and Octopus Energy are linking up home solar panels, EVs, and batteries into decentralised power systems that can feed energy back into the grid when needed.

Real-time fault detection
Sensors on transmission lines and transformers can detect anomalies instantly and help reroute power automatically, whilst immediately alerting repair teams. This ensures that small issues don’t go unnoticed and lead to major outages.

Grid connection
Smart grids can connect to neighbouring grids and share power more easily across regions. This is especially useful when one area is under stress, like we saw in Spain and Portugal recently.

Who’s leading the way?

A lot of this technology isn’t new, and examples of smart grid tech can already be seen around the world:

• Denmark has some of the most advanced smart grid integration in the world, especially for managing wind energy, which is a major part of their grid.

• UK-based supplier Octopus Energy uses its own Kraken software platform to automate load balancing and customer-side flexibility.

• In the US, companies like AutoGrid and Uplight are helping utilities modernise with demand response and real-time analytics.

• In Spain, the groundwork is being laid. Over 11 million smart meters have already been rolled out, and multiple companies are trialling real-time grid automation tools.

The shift is happening, but not as fast as we need.

What’s holding us back?

In a word, complexity. Smart grids require utilities, governments, and technology companies to collaborate incredibly closely, something that’s tough to achieve and even tougher to do at any meaningful speed!

There’s also the challenge of updating and replacing existing infrastructure that’s often decades old, a process that’s both time-consuming and expensive.

There are then concerns about how the data these grids collect is managed, and how end users can be convinced to participate in systems that share and store energy.

It’s not the most flashy technology, but it’s one of the most important parts of a clean energy future. Without it, even the most sustainable grid will break under pressure.

The recent outages in Spain and Portugal should be seen as a warning.

Extreme weather events are becoming more common, and our reliance on electricity is growing. Renewable energy is adding new complexity to the system and being adopted at increasing speeds.

But the solutions aren’t theoretical, they’re already available to us. Smart meters, flexible energy tariffs, home batteries and AI-driven grid management software are all at our fingertips ready to use, we just need to speed up their adoption.

If we get this right, we’ll end up with a grid that’s not only cleaner but also cheaper, more resilient, and more democratic. And in a world of climate uncertainty, that’s something we all need.

Catch you next week,
James

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