Blackout

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

Risks in the European Transmission System and a Novel Restoration Strategy for a Power System after a Major Blackout

Abstract: Many citizens of European countries may soon experience a long and extensive blackout. The lack of predictability in the output of renewable energy sources, aggravating the problem of consistently matching supply with demand on electric grids, along with cyber-attacks or even worse unpredictable incidents in the electric grid are some factors that may mean a blackout is much more likely than in previous years. This paper covers the possibility of an extensive blackout in a country of the interconnected European electricity transmission system or, even worse, a blackout in a wide area of the European continent. The topic of this paper becomes even more important and timely given the energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine, which has made the possibility of a blackout in the winter of 2022–2023 high. First, the major European blackouts that occurred in the past 20 years are presented, examining their causes. On 8 January 2021, the European electricity grid was divided into two separate sections, with different frequencies; some additional scenarios are considered which, if they had happened, could have led to blackouts in some European countries or, even worse, a wide area of Europe. This work also examines how to avoid such an eventuality, as well as how European TSOs should react in case a blackout occurs. Focused on the fast and reliable supply of consumers after a blackout, a novel restoration strategy based on the A* Algorithm is presented. Its efficiency is validated in the IEEE-39 and IEEE-68 bus systems.

Challenging Changing Landscapes: Implementing Synchrophasor Technology in Grid Operations in the WECC Region

Abstract: Power grids have become more complex to plan and operate. With grid changes arise new challenges: renewable generation, energy conservation, electric vehicles, energy storage, and load growth. Challenges facing the electric industry today include balancing capacity, reliability, economics, environmental, and other public objectives. Recent cascading outages have demonstrated the challenges faced when operating a system near its limits. These outages over the last few years have had large social and economic impacts. In 2012, an outage in India affected over 620 million people. In 2009, a blackout in Brazil and Paraguay impacted 87 million. In 2011, a power blackout affecting 3 million people in Southern California and Mexico lasted 12 hours and was estimated to have cost over US$100 million in lost revenue. It is a balancing act to meet today?s electricity consumer expectations in a changing landscape.

Pattern Analysis of Topological Attacks in Cyber-Physical Power Systems Considering Cascading Outages

Abstract: Modern cyber-physical power systems are vulnerable to cyber attacks. Given that cyber and physical networks are coupled tightly, attacks in the cyber layer can penetrate the physical layer, causing the outage of transmission lines and other physical equipment, thus changing the topology of the grid. In some extreme scenarios, the topological change will disrupt the emergency response of the grid, eventually causing cascading outages along with a blackout. Therefore, as the defender, the operator of a cyber-physical power system should identify critical cyber attacks. In this paper, patterns of sequential cyber topological attacks are analyzed. Firstly, a coordinated attack process is established, including mechanism and probability analysis considering the different timescales. Secondly, the concept of patterns is defined as minimal attack sequences aimed at causing blackouts. Furthermore, the representativeness of patterns is illustrated, which can significantly reduce the storage of risky attack sequences. Thirdly, to address the problem that the identification of patterns is computationally intensive, a search strategy that selects the next attack target dynamically and increases the search depth gradually is proposed to avoid unnecessary search trials. Lastly, tests are carried out on the IEEE 39-node system using the AC power flow model, which validates the representativeness of patterns and the performance of the proposed search strategy.

System and Method For Managing Video Recording Based Upon Blackout Events In A Video Data Distribution System

Abstract: A system useful for managing digital video recording of alternative event data during a blackout of primary event data at a client device, the system including but not limited to a processor in data communication with a computer readable medium; and a computer program comprising instructions embedded in the computer readable medium, the computer program further comprising instructions to receive input data scheduling a digital video recording for the primary event data; instructions to receive at the client device, notification data indicating blackout of the primary event data; and instructions to present alternative event data for recording on the client device.