January 30, 2026Power
Europe’s Solar Boom Is Pushing Power Grids to The Limit
When an early warning system designed to alert operators across Europe about disturbances on the grid was rolled out a decade ago, the predominant color showing on the on-screen maps was green. Safe with no disruptions.
More recently it has become common for the maps in grid control rooms to light up amber, red, and on occasion even black for blackout. The widely-used traffic light model is a real-time illustration of how solar’s rapid success — with roughly four panels being installed somewhere in Europe every second — is colliding with the limits of a grid built long before renewables became central to power generation.
The situation is getting more difficult to manage and operators say they lack the tools they need to balance out the effects of solar, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen European grid managers. Getting it wrong or failing to act has severe consequences like the lights going out.
“The speed of the change is extreme,” said Jan Vorrink, who ran the control room of the Dutch grid for over a decade. “The strong increase in solar is pushing the boundaries of the system.”
This is an extract from a Bloomberg piece published on October 28th, 2025.
Read more on Bloomberg.