Power Blackout Risks

Wind
Wo
rld
U.S.
A.
Chin
a
Sp
ain
Hydroelectricity
Wo
rld
Chin
a
Br
az
il
Ca
nad
a
721
396
366
Solar Photovoltaic
Wo
rld
Sp
ain
Ge
rm
an
y
Jap
an
6.9
6.2
2.9
Biomass
55.6
33.8
27.1
figure 1
4
: the top three countries for renewable energy electricity production
Geothermal
Wo
rld
U.S.
A.
Phi
lip
pin
es
In
do
ne
sia
16.5
10.3
7.0
430
94.7
50.7
43.0
2.0
2.2
1.2
14.3
3,428
58.1
81.7
16.0
17.1
62.5
0.3
0.4
16.6
4.5
18.2
< 0.1
2.3
1.0
0.3
210
5.9
5.7
1.3
1.0
Ge
rm
an
y
Br
az
il
Wo
rld
U.S.
A.

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6
Alternative Solutions and Grid 
Extension Requirements
figure 2: challenges for a future transmission grid
System Security in the Transmission Grid
European Electricity Market
Market-Driven Operation of Power Plants
100% Integration of Renewable Energy
Environmental Impact Public Acceptance
Availability & Economic Efficiency
Flexible Line Management
High Temperature Conductors
Innovative Transmission Technologies
Islanding & System Restoration
Voltage Support & Short-Circuit Power
System Services
Demand Side Management
Power Storage
Increasing Flexibility
A downside of renewable energy particularly, wind and solar technologies, is the volatile supply of power. Not only 
may a scarcity of electricity result in a power blackout, but an oversupply can also lead to grid instabilities as they 
alter the frequency within the network. For example wind energy in East Germany during strong wind conditions 
can provide up to 12 GW, which is more than all German coal and gas fired power plants considered together. This 
is not critical as long as there is enough electricity demand, but may lead to grid instabilities in cases of insufficient 
demand as there is not enough electricity storage capacity available. To get rid of excess electricity, transmission 
system operators (TSOs) often have to pay an extra fee to the electricity market (EEX – European Energy Exchange, 
Leipzig). Otherwise wind park operators have to be convinced to stop the wind turbines immediately in order to 
prevent grid instabilities and blackouts. Conversely wind turbines must be stopped due to safety reasons if the 
wind speed exceeds 30 m/sec. This scenario may cause, within one hour, power gaps equal to the performance 
of two nuclear power plants. In such cases conventional reserve power plants are required to step in instantly. 
In addition, the location of e.g. windfarms (onshore and offshore) is often far away from the centres of demand. 
Electricity has to be transported from sparsely populated regions to large electricity consumers in metropolitan 
areas. Therefore, new energy infrastructure (new high voltage transmission lines, transformers and energy 
storage capacities such as pumped-storage hydropower plants or thermal storage facilities) are needed.
Grids need to become much “smarter” to handle these enormous technical challenges. Therefore a large-scale 
smart grid is needed that integrates and automatically and efficiently coordinates the activities of all players both 
on the electricity supply and the demand side.