System blackouts: description and prevention

Abstract

This paper shows the description and prevention of system blackouts. Blackouts rarely happen and are usually caused by a sequence of low probability disturbances. The sequence of low-probability disturbances is generally not planned by the system designers and is not expected by system operators, making a power system more susceptible to a blackout. There are a number of other contributing factors that allow a blackout to spread. There is no single solution to prevent blackouts, but there are general measures than can and should be taken to minimize impact of wide area disturbances.