renewables

SSE Renewables submitted a planning application to the Scottish government in late 2022 and is still awaiting a decision.

However, Sánchez later said the power cut was "not a problem of excessive renewables".

But when it comes to renewables, operators have very accurate short-term weather forecasts to predict when there will be a surplus of wind of solar power, so they adjust power supply accordingly, Prof Christensen said.

Prof Keith Bell, at the University of Strathclyde, added that "if a system is relying on solar and wind, they design a system to reflect that," suggesting that the additional supply of energy from renewables will not have been a surprise to the grid.

"Things can and do go wrong, whether that is from renewables, fossil fuels or nuclear power. This could be the Swiss cheese model, where the holes in the system have happened to align."