New Tools for Blackout Prevention

Recent power system blackouts have heightened the concern for power system security and, therefore, reliability. However, potential security improvements which could be achieved through transmission system facility reinforcement and generation supply expansion are long-term, costly, and uncertain. As a result, more immediate and cost effective solutions to the security issue have been pursued including the development of specialized software tools which can assess power system security in near-real-time and assist operators in maintaining adequate security margins at all times thus lowering the risk of blackouts. Such software tools have been implemented in numerous power systems world-wide and are gaining popularity as a result of demonstrated benefits to system performance