{"id":220629,"date":"2025-05-06T15:22:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T13:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sma-sunny.com\/?p=220629"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:24:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T13:24:25","slug":"spains-blackout-a-wake-up-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sma-sunny.com\/en\/spains-blackout-a-wake-up-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s Blackout: A Wake-Up Call \u2013 How Australia Can Ensure Network Stability with Grid-Forming Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recent blackout across Spain and Portugal serves as a stark reminder of the complexity and critical importance of grid stability in power supply systems. Within seconds, a disturbance escalated into a system-wide failure, leaving nearly 60 million people along with critical infrastructure without power.<\/p>\n

While the full details of the incident are still emerging, the event highlights the operational challenges that come with rapidly evolving power systems. Maintaining stable frequency and synchronisation across all sources\u2014whether traditional or renewable\u2014is essential. A resilient grid must maintain the delicate balance between supply and demand at all times and be able to absorb disturbances.<\/p>\n

System strength: the key ingredient<\/h2>\n

Electricity grids were historically built around synchronous generators\u2014 alternator-based machines that provide physical inertia and support frequency stability and synchronism. As alternators coupling fossil-fuelled generators to the grid retire, so too does the source of stability they once delivered. Renewable energy sources coupled through Inverter Based Resources (IBR) like wind and solar, while critical to decarbonisation, do not inherently provide these services.<\/p>\n

The paper \u201cEmerging Frequency Control Mechanisms in IBR Dominated Power Systems\u201c published in 2021 by University of Queensland researchers highlights a key tipping point: once inverter-based generation exceeds ~70% of total supply, the grid becomes vulnerable to rapid disturbances, the paper discussed how the grid can recover from a single event, but is likely to collapse when a second event happens in quick succession. The Spanish blackout followed a similar pattern with high renewable share, limited synchronous support, and cascading failure after two successive disruptions. While causation is still being investigated, the risks of operating the power network without sufficient inherent stability are well recognised.<\/p>\n

Australia is taking steps to tackle this issue by implementing requirements around system strength remediation and emphasising the deployment of large-scale batteries coupled through IBR with grid forming capabilities. One key example of what can be achieved with the use of well-tuned state-of-the-art inverter technology was the stabilisation of the West Murray region\u2014a formerly volatile part of the National Electricity Market (NEM)\u2014where SMA played a crucial role in delivering inverter technology that helped restore and maintain system stability.<\/p>\n

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System Strength: Our technologies ensure grid stability<\/div><\/div>
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