Blackout

About: Blackout is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2088 publications have been published within this topic receiving 30433 citations.

Black start with dfig based distributed generation after major emergencies

Abstract: Grid connected distributed generation (DG) increases reliability and additional benefits for consumers as well as utilities The stable and reliable operation of a power system is necessary after major emergencies (or blackouts) following a major system event Distributed generation may be capable of black start and contribute to fast restoration process at medium to low voltage level A large scale voltage and frequency excursions may occur during the process of black start with distributed generation due to low inertia and intermittency in power generation Energy storage integrated with DG can absorb initial impact of central generation and ensure smooth load pickup during the restoration of a system In this paper, the process of black start with a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind turbine is addressed and energy storage in DC link of DFIG is used for fast restoration after blackout A control system has been developed for the process of black-start with DFIG A sequence of actions for black start procedure is presented and tested

Slow Coherency and Angle Modulated Particle Swarm Optimization Based Islanding of Large Scale Power Systems

Abstract: Power system islanding is an efficient way to avoid catastrophic wide area blackouts, such as the 2003 North American blackout. Islanding of large-scale power systems is a combinatorial explosion problem. Thus, it is very difficult to find an optimal solution within reasonable time using analytical methods. This paper presents a new method to solve this problem. In the proposed method, angle modulated particle swarm optimization (AMPSO) is utilized to find a number of efficient islanding solutions for large-scale power systems due to its computational efficiency. First, desired generators groups is obtained using slow coherency algorithm. AMPSO is then used to optimize a fitness function defined according to both generation/load balance and similarity to the desired generator grouping. In doing so, the resulted islanding solutions provide good static and dynamic stability. Simulations for power systems of different scales demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

The effect of the great blackout of 1965 on births in New York City.

Abstract: A comparison of the number of births in New York City nine months after the Great Blackout of 1965 with comparable periods for the previous five years shows no increase in births associated with the blackout.

Protection issues during system restoration

Abstract: Power system blackouts are a very rare phenomenon in a well-planned interconnected power system. Nevertheless it is very important to have plans and systems in place to handle any eventuality even if it is remote. This report brings out various issues related to protection during a system restoration process. Power system protection is critical to a safe, efficient, and reliable power system. Protection engineers take every possible care to ensure that protection systems are designed considering all predictable eventualities and these constraints have grown over time. However, during system restoration, after a major blackout, it is possible for the protection elements to be presented with situations, which they can mistake for an unhealthy power system and the protection elements may operate. The prime concern during a power system blackout is to bring the system back to normalcy as fast as possible. At times, if proper care is not taken, the protection system can hinder and delay the restoration of the power system. This report discusses various such conditions that can occur during the blackstart of a power system and also suggests solutions to manage them without compromising the objectives of protection system i.e., to ensure a safe, efficient, and reliable power system.

Overview of the events and causes of the 2003 Italian blackout

Abstract: During the night of September 28th, 2003 the European interconnected grid faced a series of outages, which started with line flashovers to trees and line trips on the Swiss electricity transmission grids, close to the Italian border, and ended with the separation of the entire Italian system from the UCTE (Union for the Co-ordination of the Transmission of Electricity) grid. The interconnecting lines were already heavily loaded and the operator action was not sufficient in controlling the situation. Due to the large power unbalance following the separation, the Italian electrical system and a small part of the Swiss system, suffered an under-frequency transient. Unfortunately, the automatic load shedding procedure and the regulating action of generators were not able to avoid the blackout. The incident affected the whole peninsula (about 45 million people); full restoration took almost 19 hours. This paper provides a short description of the system operation right before the incident, and reports the main events that led to the blackout. The focus is put on some issues that have been identified as the main causes that resulted in the separation of the Italian system and in the blackout. Some issues related to the operation of the Italian defense plan and to the restoration process are also discussed, along with some countermeasures already in place