South Australia’s 2016 statewide blackout is once again under the spotlight after a nationwide power outage in Spain sparked fresh debate over the reliability of renewable energy.
While Spanish authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the blackout, some observers have pointed to the country’s high share of solar power as a possible factor—drawing comparisons to South Australia’s experience nearly a decade ago. At the time, wind power made up a significant portion of the grid when severe weather triggered a cascade of technical failures that led to a complete shutdown.
In its official investigation, the Australian Energy Regulator found that the 2016 blackout was caused by storm damage to transmission infrastructure, which led to a rapid loss of wind generation, the failure of the Heywood Interconnector, and ultimately the collapse of the state’s electricity supply. Power was restored to most customers within eight hours.
Despite the findings pointing to several causes, the blackout was widely used in political debates to cast doubt on Australia’s transition to renewable energy.
“The discourse on social media and traditional media tends to hyperfocus on a single cause, but no one cause was alone sufficient to have caused the blackout,” said Ketan Joshi, author of Windfall, a book examining Australia’s renewable energy rollout.
However, the response from energy operators focused on reinforcing the grid. Short-term measures included improved weather forecasting and the addition of synchronous condensers—equipment that mimics the stabilising effect of traditional turbines. Backup gas generation was also bolstered.
Over the longer term, the blackout helped push Australia into battery storage. In 2017, Tesla built what was then the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia, following a high-profile pledge from Elon Musk to complete it in under 100 days.
The project marked a turning point in how Australia managed intermittent renewable power and paved the way for large-scale energy storage. BloombergNEF now expects 2.5 gigawatts of new utility-scale storage to be added across the country this year.
Despite misinformation that continued in the years after, Australia’s energy transition moved forward.
“Engineers basically dealt with the problem by looking at the evidence, but equally, Australia had a democracy that could withstand the level of disinformation being spread about renewables. The challenge in Spain’s case is to ensure the attacks don’t find purchase,” Joshi said.
