Power blackouts in Europe: Analyses, key insights, and recommendations from empirical evidence

Abstract

Power transmission systems face unprecedented challenges due to the rapid adoption of intermittent energy sources and frequent extreme weather events. To study this phenomenon, we compile a database of European events, which comprises 478 continental-scale and 14,557 national-scale events originating from the Italian transmission system. Our results show that cascading events are the biggest threat faced by modern transmission systems, and weather events are the most common initiators. Additionally, we find direct correlations between component failure rates and system demand, as well as wind speed. We identify weaknesses in recovery prioritization because low-impact events are responsible for 62% of the recovery time of continental-scale and 81% of national-scale events. Finally, we show that recovering components within 13 h can reduce up to 52% of the power loss from cascading failures in the national system. These findings can help operators make informed decisions and mitigate the development of serious events.