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Tue, 25 Aug 2026

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 Firms scramble for battery power in Spain and Portugal

After last year's massive power failure Spanish and Portuguese firms are buying battery back ups.

* A power cut in April 2025 caused chaos across Portugal and Spain, with widespread disruptions and losses estimated at hundreds of thousands of euros.
* The Spanish meat processing firm Fribin lost production and had to discard tonnes of meat due to the blackout.
* Fribin's technology director Andrés Altabás said they had considered investing in a battery backup system but was too expensive until the blackout.
* After the incident, Fribin invested €1.5m in two 5MW modules for energy storage, which were partially funded by EU Next Generation funds.
* Companies across Europe are switching to electricity from fossil fuels due to EU subsidies, making them more vulnerable to power cuts.
* In response, firms are investing in energy storage systems, with battery capacity rising nearly sevenfold in Spain since the blackout.
* The Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica reports a significant increase in battery storage capacity, and IDAE awarded €827m in EU funds for 133 energy storage projects totaling 2,400MW.
* Battery suppliers are seeing increased demand and evolving customer requirements, including seamless backup power and selling electricity back to the grid.