The more wind and solar we get from Chris Bowen, the more exposed we will be to blackouts

Evidence is firming that this week’s power outage in Spain is the first mega-blackout of the global warming movement. If Chris Bowen keeps pushing wind and solar we’ll be closer to a Spanish disaster right here.

Anyone seen Chris Bowen?

The Albanese government’s energy minister should have the guts to come out of wherever he’s been hiding to tell us not panic.

Or admit he’s set to ruin us.

See, on Monday two European countries – Spain and Portugal – lost all their electricity for hours after trying what Bowen plans in his global warming mania to do to Australia.

Chris Bowen should have the guts to come out of wherever he’s been hiding. Picture: Martin Ollman

This should have been this week’s biggest political story.

But this election campaign is totally unengaged from the real challenges we face, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was not asked one question about this blackout, and what it says about Labor’s plans to make us use much more wind and solar power.

In fact, Spain last week boasted that for the first time it had reached this Left-wing Jerusalem – it had on one day run its power grid totally on renewable energy, almost all wind and solar.

But, just days later, its system blew up.

Lights out, industry shut, planes grounded, banks knocked out, trains stopped, the internet closed down – a country turned helpless in Europe’s biggest ever blackout.

Trains stopped and planes were grounded during the massive blackout in Spain. Picture: AFP

Portugal, linked to Spain’s grid and also heavily reliant on wind and solar, also went dark, as did parts of southern France.

Spain’s prime minister is a socialist and global warming spruiker, so it’s not surprising he’s not saying exactly what went wrong – not when it would make his renewables crusade look disastrously stupid.

I guess that’s why hyper-bunny Bowen stopped his frantic posting on social media and stayed in his room.

Come out, come out, Chris, wherever you are.

Hyper-bunny Bowen has stopped his frantic posting on social media and stayed in his room. Picture: Mark Stewart

But the evidence is firming that this is the first mega-blackout of the global warming movement.

Spain’s grid operator, Red Electrica de Espana, told reporters in a conference call that the blackout seemed to have been initially triggered by a sudden loss of power that was “very likely” from solar generators.

Less than two seconds after that trigger, there was another loss of power, and then the interconnector with France failed.

The whole system quickly shut down.

More information is needed to be sure of the initial cause, but there’s good reason to fear you won’t be told, given the huge political embarrassment to the Spanish government and the “net zero” industry.

But experts warn that what we saw is exactly what to expect when an electricity system relies too much on wind and solar.

Just before the blackout, Spain’s grid was running on just over 70 per cent wind and solar. Chris Bowen’s plan is to make wind and solar supply 82 per cent of Australia’s grid in just five years’ time.

Spain was warned in February this dependence on wind and solar was dangerous.

Red Electrica said in February there was a “short-term risk” of “generation disconnections due to the high penetration of renewables” during the middle of the day.

The reason is simple.

Traditional and reliable sources of electricity such as coal, gas and nuclear have what’s called “inertia” – in their case, huge spinning turbines that keep spinning even if there is some fluctuation in the energy driving them.

It’s like your car still motoring along, even if you lift your foot off the accelerator.

Wind and solar don’t have that.

The electricity stops the second they do. And electricity systems can’t cope with too much instability like that.

That’s why some solar and wind power can be good, but lots is a danger.

That’s the weakness of Spain’s system, says Tony Irwin, who commissioned and operated eight nuclear reactors in Britain and was the first reactor manager for Australia’s only nuclear plant, at Lucas Heights.

“Certainly with over 70 per cent of variables (wind and solar) in the system they are vulnerable to a major disturbance,” he said.

“They have just 10 per cent nuclear in the mix and just 1 per cent coal, so there is very little power there with inertia.”

The more wind and solar we get from Chris Bowen, the more exposed we will be, too.

The Australian Energy Market Operator warned last year of a growing lack of inertia in our system, saying “shortfalls are expected to emerge against these requirements in Queensland and Tasmania over the next three years”.

Irwin says Spain should alert us: “Increasingly we are vulnerable because of increasing wind and solar in the system.”

But if there’s nothing to worry about, why Bowen’s silence?

You know why.

If Bowen’s Labor wins this election, we’ll be closer to a Spanish disaster right here.

Originally published as The more wind and solar we get from Chris Bowen, the more exposed we will be to blackouts