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Spanish and Portuguese firms expand battery backups after major outages
Spain battery storage capacity rose nearly sevenfold after the blackout, while one meat processor said power loss cost hundreds of thousands of euros.
After a massive power failure brought widespread disruption in Spain and Portugal, companies in the two countries are increasingly investing in battery backup systems to avoid production stoppages during outages, the BBC Business reports.
Spanish meat processor Fribin, which was forced to halt refrigeration and production lines during the shutdown, said emergency backup systems were not sufficient to keep operations running and that it discarded large quantities of meat, with losses of hundreds of thousands of euros.
Fribin had considered battery backups for years but judged them too expensive until the blackout accelerated the decision. The company purchased a first 5 megawatt-hour module in June 2025 and ordered a second module with the same storage capacity in early June 2026, for a total investment of around €1.5m, funded in part by EU Next Generation funds.
The BBC Business also notes that the shift toward electrifying industrial needs, supported by EU subsidies, can increase vulnerability to power cuts. In Spain, battery storage capacity rose almost sevenfold since last April, from about 28 MW before the blackout to 193MW in April 2026, according to grid operator Red Eléctrica.