Spain’s wholesale electricity hit €44/MWh in early 2026 vs €96-127 in Germany/Italy, driven by wind and solar pushing gas off the margin.
Key Takeaways
Gas set the marginal price in ~55% of Spanish hours in 2022; by Q1 2026 that fell to just 9%, directly decoupling wholesale prices from TTF gas.
Wind (20%) and solar (22%) crossed above all fossil generation combined in 2022 and now deliver 44% of output vs 17% for fossils.
Despite cheapest wholesale power in Europe, Spanish households still pay €0.265/kWh (16th most expensive in EU) due to taxes, levies, and network charges adding ~31% to bills.
Nuclear (~19% of generation) is scheduled to retire 2027-2035; without replacement, gas moves back up the merit order and the gas-setter share climbs again.
The April 2025 Iberian blackout was caused by voltage instability cascades, not excess renewables per ENTSO-E; fixes (statcoms, better disconnection protocols) exist but funding is unresolved.
Hacker News Comment Review
The sole commenter disputes the blackout framing, arguing Spain’s nuclear phase-out specifically created the grid stability gap that triggered the cascade, pushing back on the ENTSO-E “not about renewables” characterization.
Notable Comments
@alecco: “YES THEY DID, they went as far as making nu[clear unviable]” – contests the article’s conclusion that nuclear retirement risk is merely a future concern.
