The company Red Eléctrica Española has ruled out that the blackout that affected a large part of the country on April 28th was caused by a cyber-attack. According to the preliminary report presented by the entity responsible for the transmission and operation of the national electricity system, no signs of external intrusion or digital sabotage in its systems have been detected.
The power outage generated concern among citizens, companies and authorities, especially in a global context where energy cybersecurity is a growing priority.
The artificial intelligence demand overload hypothesis
Although a cyber attack has been ruled out, Red Eléctrica has not closed all lines of investigation. One of the hypotheses gaining strength is that the blackout could have been caused by an unexpected peak in energy demand, linked to the growing use of artificial intelligence technologies.
In recent years, the massive deployment of data centers, large-scale AI model trainings and applications that require constant processing – such as virtual assistants, content generation platforms and real-time analytics tools – has boosted electricity consumption. According to data from Eurostat and the Institute for Just Transition, the energy consumption of data centers in Spain has increased by more than 30% in the last two years.
“We are observing an abrupt increase in energy demand during certain time slots, especially coinciding with training processes and AI model updates,” explained Red Eléctrica. “Although the system is prepared to handle demand peaks, a combination of technical factors and a possible error in the load forecast could have temporarily destabilized the system.”
Elon Musk had already warned
Entrepreneur and technology mogul Elon Musk, known for his strong views on the development of artificial intelligence, had already warned on several occasions about the energy impact of this technology. In a recent interview, Musk warned that “AI poses not only ethical and existential risks, but also immediate practical challenges such as massive energy consumption that can collapse unprepared power grids.”
His words, at the time seen by some as alarmist, now take on a new meaning after the blackout experienced in Spain. “If the growth of artificial intelligence is not properly regulated and planned for, power systems will suffer increasingly frequent outages,” Musk insisted.
Call for energy planning more adapted to the 21st century
Experts in the energy sector have warned of the need to adapt the electricity infrastructure to new technological challenges. The irruption of artificial intelligence raises not only ethical and social questions, but also operational ones: the energy system must be able to sustain its growth without compromising stability.
The Ministry of Ecological Transition has assured that a technical round table will be convened in the next few days to analyze the incident and define measures to avoid future blackouts. In addition, a review of the regulatory framework for data centers and energy-intensive activities is being considered, with the aim of harmonizing technological development and sustainability.
Conclusion
Although the April 28 blackout was not the product of a malicious attack, it has highlighted the fragility of a system facing new pressures. Growing demand driven by artificial intelligence is forcing a rethink of the national energy model to match the technological demands of the present and the future – a warning that, as Elon Musk pointed out, was already on the table.
