The large amount of solar power on the Spanish and Portuguese grids may have left the Iberian power grid more vulnerable to faults or cyberattacks, according to one expert. [emphasis, links added]
This is because of the need for “inertia” on the electricity system, which is a byproduct of generators that have spinning parts—such as those running on gas, coal, or hydropower.
These have turbines that can speed up or slow down to help adjust the power frequency, which must be kept within certain limits.
Inertia also helps to protect the system from faults that cause sudden frequency drops, giving grid operators time to switch on alternative generators.
Solar panels do not generate inertia on the system, however, and there are known issues with low inertia on the Iberian grid.
At about 10 am this morning, roughly two hours before the power cuts, almost 60 percent of Spain’s power was being generated by solar farms, according to transparency data.
At lunchtime, power demand tends to drop, meaning there is less demand for gas on the system in Spain, said Kathryn Porter, an independent energy analyst.
Ms Porter said: “If you have a grid fault, it can cause a frequency imbalance, and in a low-inertia environment, the frequency can change much faster.
“If you have had a significant grid fault in one area, or a cyberattack, or whatever it may be, the grid operators therefore have less time to react. That can lead to cascading failures if you cannot get it under control quickly enough.
“The growing reliance on solar has pushed inertia on the grid to the point where it [becomes] more difficult to respond to disruptions such as significant transmission faults.”
…snip…
The European Union chief said that “at this point, there are no indications of any cyberattack” after a massive blackout hit Spain and Portugal.
Read full post at The Telegraph
Sure this works, horrendously inefficient though. Also have to consider the significant additional maintenance. Mechanical inverters have been replaced by semiconductors in pretty much every application because of the cost.
What a convenient “event”, masterfully staged, serving the proper purpose…
One ‘cure’, and I haven’t worked out just what the power loss would be. Use a DC motor to drive an AC generator. There would still be potential problems, but not as vulnerable as electronic DC/AC inverters.
Graham, we had AC/DC motor generators on our US nuclear subs (I was a reactor operator). When the reactor is running we had two steam generators to generate 440V AC to power the boat. The motor generators would use the AC motor to generate DC current to trickle charge our large battery pack. But in case of a reactor scram the roles would swap automatically and the DC motors would generate AC current while we would get the reactor running again. We also had a diesel generator on the boat to provide longer generation capability if the reactor was down longer and the last boat I served on our diesel had a DC generator attached to the DC bus and would power the boat with AC via the DC-motor/AC-generator.
I don’t remember the amperage these motor-generators could generate but my guess is higher than the inverters in use with things like the solar panels. And as I said the ones we had generated AC at 440V.
So the technology exists, and has been around for years, and works. It should be made mandatory.
Thanks for the explanation, I wasn’t aware of the history.
Although not exactly the same but the regenerative braking systems on Hybrids and EVs uses similar technology. When pushing on the accelerator pedal the DC motors are turning the wheels but when decelerating they switch to generators from the turning of the wheels to recharge the battery.
Why we don’t need to have all of America under Wind and Solar leave that to the UN Facility