ABSTRACT
System Blackouts and Operational Complexity 16.1 INTRODUCTION Blackouts, and the dynamic power system behaviors that can lead to them, are among the most complicated phenomena that mankind has attempted to master, in many ways as difficult to engineer and control as a space probe on its way to Jupiter or a beam of quantum particles inside an atomic accelerator. This chapter covers power grid blackouts, discussing their salient points without the use of esoteric technical terms or equations. Despite the authors’ best efforts, the reader with little or no technical background may be have to read through a section several times, and take some technical details on faith, before proceeding. In particular, Section 16.3 addresses several complicated concepts such as synchronized operation and phase angle differences that are difficult to grasp, even for engineers. However, the authors can think of no clearer way to explain these extremely important aspects of power system behavior. This chapter is deliberately redundant, both because repetition is a useful tool in a self-tutorial book such as this, and because the authors anticipate that many readers will only select parts of this chapter to read. Section 16.2 provides a summary of blackouts and their causes, and compares them to other “lights out” situations, for the reader who wants the shortest possible discussion. Section 16.3 then kicks off a more protracted discussion with a look at the synchronized operation of electrical equipment, interconnected system security, and the types of events that trigger blackouts. It continues with a discussion of how grid operation, control systems, loading and voltages on major equipment, and operating problems interact with blackouts. Section 16.4 looks at the root causes of blackouts, and the ways the power industry tries to prevent them. Section 16.5 summarizes with a review of key points and some observations on the challenges the industry faces as it moves ahead.
