Mastodawn

I think the most scary thing I've seen for a long while is this statement from NESO (aka #nationalgrid ) who are *working towards* being able to fully restore the UK grid within 5 days of a collapse like Spain earlier this year #blackstart

The_Sun Aug 20

Power systems can be restarted using large-scale, grid-forming batteries storing power from wind and solar sources as the primary restart source.

Batteries with grid-forming inverter technology are better at supporting system restart than traditional black-start generators in many respects

They are capable of energising far larger areas of the network than synchronous generators like gas, coal or hydro
#BlackStart #Batteries #Solar #Energy #blackout #CSIRO #Australia

https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/Articles/2025/August/Turning-the-lights-back-on

Turning the lights back on

Electricity keeps traffic lights on, operating rooms running and medications refrigerated – and power blackouts in Australia are not just an inconvenience, they can put lives at risk.

Tina M Casey Jun 22

The US hydropower fleet provides 40% of "black start" capability on the grid.

https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2025/hydropower-big-beautiful-bill/822761

#hydropower #hydroelectric #hydropowerplants #blackstart #grid #gridresilience #electricity #renewableenergy #renewables #cleanenergy #greenenergy #bigbeautifulbill #waterresources #sustainable #sustainability #energysecurity #energy #pumpedstorage #energystorage

The 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Is a Key Moment for the U.S. Hydropower Industry

The U.S. hydropower sector is seeing increased investment, but uncertainty around tax credits could throw a wrench in plans for growth. We asked Malcolm Woolf, president and CEO of the National Hydropower Association, what's next for the sector and the policies it needs to thrive.

Tina M Casey Jun 22

The US hydropower fleet provides 40% of "black start" capability on the grid.

https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2025/hydropower-big-beautiful-bill/822761

The 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Is a Key Moment for the U.S. Hydropower Industry

Anthony May 2

At my previous full-time role I worked on a simulator for just these sorts of black start events. The US has come very close to having regional outages of this scale several times in the last decade, and our black start capability is largely untested to my knowledge (by which I mean largely untested in real-world scenarios).

Spain is about to face the challenge of a “black start”
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/04/why-restarting-a-power-grid-is-so-hard/

#ElectricPower #power #PowerGrid #BlackStart

Spain is about to face the challenge of a “black start”

Major power facilities require power to operate, and there’s lots of unmet demand.

Ars Technica

SpaceLifeForm Apr 30

Blackstart recovery

It is nonsense to blame Solar for the grid instability.

This may just have been unhappy coincidence of two separate events. It is not a surprise that the Nuclear plants tripped themselves offline.

It is not a surprise that the interconnect tripped when it saw a problem.

The question is why did the grid become unstable in the first place and not able to maintain 50Hz.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c175ykvjxyeo

#Blackstart #Power #Solar

How Spain powered back to life from unprecedented national blackout

However diversified Spain's energy mix is, the blackout required an enormous effort to get back up and running.

jeancf Apr 29

Detailed article on the Spanish electrical grid failure and the "black start" procedure that they need to follow to bring the network back online.

Black start is essentially the opposite of a cascading power failure – a carefully planned and sequenced cascading reconnection of generators, circuits and loads.

https://jkempenergy.com/2025/04/28/iberian-peninsula-hit-by-mass-blackout-and-attempts-black-start/
#Spain #PowerGrid #BlackStart

Iberian Peninsula hit by mass blackout and attempts black start

Spain and Portugal have been hit by widespread blackouts following a cascading failure on the high-voltage transmission system forcing them to attempt a complicated “black start” operation to resto…

JKempEnergy.com

N-gated Hacker News Apr 29

Ars Technica just discovered the term "black start," and now Spain's power grid is apparently auditioning for a disaster movie 🎬, because nothing screams 'cutting-edge journalism' like adding dramatic flair to technical challenges. Meanwhile, Spanish citizens are more concerned about #siesta schedules than imaginary Armageddons. 😴⚡
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/04/why-restarting-a-power-grid-is-so-hard/ #blackstart #Spain #powergrid #journalism #disastermovie #HackerNews #ngated

Spain is about to face the challenge of a “black start”

Major power facilities require power to operate, and there’s lots of unmet demand.

Ars Technica

Ars Technica News Apr 28

Spain is about to face the challenge of a “black start” https://arstechni.ca/aCyt3 #gridmanagement #blackstart #powergrid #blackout #Portugal #Science #Energy #spain

Spain is about to face the challenge of a “black start”

Major power facilities require power to operate, and there’s lots of unmet demand.

Ars Technica

WIRED - The Latest in Technology, Science, Culture and Business Apr 28

The Agonizing Task of Turning Europe’s Power Back On

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/europe-blackout-spain-portugal-power-outage/

The Agonizing Task of Turning Europe’s Power Back On

A massive blackout affecting Spain, Portugal, and parts of France has been blamed on atmospheric conditions. Now engineers face the arduous task of getting the power back on.

WIRED