Impact of recent blackout: Return of experience of experience on utility operational IT infrastructures

Abstract

The utility operational environment has been facing over the last 10 years significant changes mainly derived from the unbundling of the overall energy supply chain as well as from fundamental changes observed in the mix of the energy resources portfolio towards lower size renewable energies. These challenges have been changing the former flow patterns observed within transmission and distribution networks towards larger amount of cross-border flows from less observable areas as well as massive counter-flows from distribution to transmission related to the larger penetration of distribution energy resources. Meanwhile the growing regulatory pressure tends to focus network operator attention to grow the return of their assets their existing asset though aging. These growing operational constraints have grown the amount of dispatcher stress while various blackouts have happened in Europe and US. Several working groups analysing the context of these major incidents have been launched, AREVA T&D technical experts having participated to several of them. This paper proposes to list the various consequence of this analysis onto energy management system technologies.