Power outages and black-outs

The authorities are coming up with different explanations for the blackout here in Mexico, some are contradictory... a common thing here though.

According to Cenace, a problem surfaced in two transmission lines connecting the northeastern substations of Lajas in Nuevo León and Güémez in Tamaulipas. This resulted in 16 generators, 1.714MW of solar capacity and 877MW of wind capacity, to be dropped from the system.

"The specification of what was the cause of this instability is very important. That is to say, who was generating, because this does not include only CFE, it is the national system. Who was generating in those areas and what kind of generation was feeding the grid, this we will analyze with utmost care," Bartlett said.

When we lost the power here, I checked the fuse box and the street line trying to figure out the problem. We thought it was a local issue at the beginning, but we checked Twitter and many others were reporting the issue, even from other states.

The blackout lasted about 1 hour if I remember correctly.

The media was reporting that there was another blackout this year but I cannot remember something similar at all. This one was too widespread.

Maybe it's just me but it's fishy. Could it be something similar to what happened in Argentina last year?

It could be just an unexpected surge, a mistake, or the incompetence of the power service but could it be a warning? The media aligned with the Covid madness have criticized Mexico's pandemic measures as too lax... Who knows.
 
'Blackout': Massive power outage in Pakistan as several cities plunge into darkness


  • Mega cities of Pakistan, and Azad Kashmir plunge into darkness
  • Minister for Power Omar Ayub says fault originated in Guddu at 11:41pm
  • Says "frequency in the power distribution system suddenly dropped from 50 to 0 which caused the blackout"
 
Mega cities of Pakistan, and Azad Kashmir plunge into darkness
9 Jan, 2021 19:58 / Updated 9 hours ago
Pakistan’s national power grid has failed, leaving almost the entire country in the dark. With officials blaming a mysterious “plunge in the frequency,” conspiracy theories quickly proliferated.

"A countrywide blackout has been caused by a sudden plunge in the frequency in the power transmission system," Pakistani power minister Omar Ayub Khan wrote on Twitter, shortly after the country was plunged into darkness before midnight on Saturday.

Pakistanis soon shared pictures of their blacked out cities and towns, with the starry night sky clearly visible above without the usual light pollution.

Khan added that repair crews had been dispatched to power stations, and urged citizens to remain calm.

Government spokesman Imran Ghazali said shortly afterwards that power would be restored to Islamabad within three hours, and to the rest of the country by Sunday morning.

Abid Qaiyum Suleri, an economic adviser to Khan, said on Twitter that a 500KV transmission had broken down, though Suleri did not know exactly how. He suggested that fog or an “uptake issue” from the Tarbela Dam hydroelectric plant could have been responsible.

However, other theories soon spread in the darkness. Some predicted a coup against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Others warned of an impending attack by India.

Other commenters stepped in to remind them not to panic, to wait for power to be restored, and to “go to sleep early tonight.”

While rebel attacks have caused massive blackouts in Pakistan before, the country’s crumbling infrastructure and growing demand for power often leave citizens without power for hours on end. However, new Chinese-built power stations and supply lines are beginning to make up the shortfall.

 
Where I live - semi rural/edge of the sprawling tentacles of the metropolis / Dublin - we have had about 4 or 5 power cuts in the past 2-3 months. The latest, 2 days ago, in broad daylight and with absolutely no adverse weather conditions, just had all the feeling of a 'now we pull the plug just because we can... and because we want you all to be further freaked out... and because we want to build up that herd acceptance that when we soon enough say that the power system has been taken down by cyber attack, that you will just buy into our 'Sorry folks, no power for the next 3 weeks!' with passive resignation. With 3 months of guaranteed lock-down now ahead, Season 2 - 'The Winter cull' - is up and running.

Time to somehow find the funds to buy that wood fired generator...
 
Where I live - semi rural/edge of the sprawling tentacles of the metropolis / Dublin - we have had about 4 or 5 power cuts in the past 2-3 months. The latest, 2 days ago, in broad daylight and with absolutely no adverse weather conditions, just had all the feeling of a 'now we pull the plug just because we can... and because we want you all to be further freaked out... and because we want to build up that herd acceptance that when we soon enough say that the power system has been taken down by cyber attack, that you will just buy into our 'Sorry folks, no power for the next 3 weeks!' with passive resignation. With 3 months of guaranteed lock-down now ahead, Season 2 - 'The Winter cull' - is up and running.

Time to somehow find the funds to buy that wood fired generator...
This may help? Surviving power outages and the World Economic Forums cyber attacks
 
Time to somehow find the funds to buy that wood fired generator...

I thinking it could be an EMP (flare), pulse by Mother-Nature! One of many possibility's, IMHO.

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021
...BUT SURPRISES ARE POSSIBLE: On Jan. 8th, the sun was blank and spotless, with no chance of a solar flare. Suddenly, the biggest magnetic filament in years launched itself off the surface of the sun. At first it appeared the debris would miss Earth. But it didn't miss. On Jan. 11th, a shock wave arrived, sparking the brightest auroras of 2021:

latest_512_0193.jpg


"What a surprise!" says aurora tour guide Marianne Bergli of Tromsø, Norway. "I took this picture at 3 o'clock in the morning. I was supposed to be asleep, but how could I sleep at an amazing magical moment like this? I'm so glad I'm free to be outside and do what I love to do."

Once again today the sun is blank and spotless, with no chance of a solar flare. But surprises are possible. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.



 
While reading recent posts on this threat, have youtube playing, listening to ice age farmer. Must be on auto play, the next video that played was a national geographic doc about a guy in America preparing for the power to go out due to EMP😳.
Havent watched much of it. Preparing people 🤔

 
Adapt 2030 discusses recent power outages, earth cracks and extreme weathers events in this video.

New Clues Why There Are Power Outages and Earth Cracks​


The extremes you are seeing across the globe signal the amplification beginning of a new magnetic field forming in the outer solar system as our Sun decreases its output in this new Eddy Grand Solar Minimum. Did you notice the Level up in lock down with a 1750 Pound quarantine tax for entering the UK. This effectively shuts down global travel if implements across other nations. Another fingerprint f the Grand Solar Minimum fulfilled marching toward 2024.

 
This area had a shut down of electrical energy last Monday, (for about an hour in the am).


16 September 2021

Sep 21, 2021


 
This article was posted on Zerohedge today

Millions Of Chinese Residents Lose Power After Widespread, "Unexpected" Blackouts; Power Company Warns This Is "New Normal"​



People living in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces complained on social media about the lack of heating, and lifts and traffic lights not working.
Local media in China - which is highly dependent on coal for power - said the cause was a surge in coal prices leading to short supply. As shown in the chart below, Chinese thermal coal futures have more than doubled in price in the past year.



There are several reasons for the surge in thermal coal, among them already extremely tight energy supply globally (that's already seen chaos engulf markets in Europe); the sharp economic rebound from COVID lockdowns that has boosted demand from households and businesses; a warm summer which led to extreme air condition consumption across China; the escalating trade spat with Australia which had depressed the coal trade and Chinese power companies ramping up power purchases to ensure winter coal supply.

Then there is Beijing's pursuit of curbing carbon emissions - Xi Jinping wants to ensure blue skies at the Winter Olympics in Beijing next February, showing the international community that he's serious about de-carbonizing the economy - that has led to artificial bottlenecks in the coal supply chain.

So I guess it is just a matter of time when the rest of the world will experience rolling blackouts, this indeed will be a "Dark Winter" and "The Winter of our Discontent". Time to check supplies and continue to prepare, while supplies are still available. Right now where I live in Canada, grocery shelves appear to be well stocked. Some imported products I have never seen before on the shelves, I get the sense they are emptying warehouses accruing as much profit before the SHTF.
 

(Niall) It's a video shown a couple of weeks ago supposedly somewhere south of Aleppo. That's near the big war zone in Idlib. It's looking up in the sky fixed on a cloud and there are like waves rippling up through the cloud.

A: We told you long ago that there is a large portal over the Middle East. This was a breaching of the realm curtain.

Q: (L) So... Was something coming in, or getting out of here?

A: Coming in!

Q: (Artemis) Something came in... Prepare for the worst!

(Chu) Something like what?

A: We told you that there would be strange cosmic phenomena!

Q: (Pierre) They didn't say what was coming in.

(L) I guess we have to wait and see.

(Joe) It was the Kraken. Godzilla!
 
Considering that there may be blackouts in areas of Europe, that have not experienced much of it in the past, this post tries to explore how the power grids are connected and how they work. Although Europe is the example, the structure of the grid would probably be similar in many other regions.

Protecting electronics with surge protectors and uninterrupted power supplies
Before getting into the details of the power grid and possible failures, one practical application is to know how one can attempt to protect one's computer and other electronics. In short, the common recommendation is to consider surge protectors and uninterrupted power supplies. The power outage Wiki has:
Protecting computer systems from power outages[edit]
Computer systems and other electronic devices containing logic circuitry are susceptible to data loss or hardware damage that can be caused by the sudden loss of power. These can include data networking equipment, video projectors, alarm systems as well as computers. To protect computer systems against this, the use of an uninterruptible power supply or 'UPS' can provide a constant flow of electricity if a primary power supply becomes unavailable for a short period of time. To protect against surges (events where voltages increase for a few seconds), which can damage hardware when power is restored, a special device called a surge protector that absorbs the excess voltage can be used.
One can also do a search using questions like:
How to prevent fried electronics?
How to protect computer from power surges?
How to protect computer from power fluctuation?
Etc.
Besides protectors, one can disconnect the equipment when not in use.

The power grids
The Wiki for the Synchronous grid of Continental Europe explains:
The synchronous grid of Continental Europe (also known as Continental Synchronous Area; formerly known as the UCTE grid) is the largest synchronous electrical grid (by connected power) in the world. It is interconnected as a single phase-locked 50 Hz mains frequency electricity grid that supplies over 400 million customers in 24 countries, including most of the European Union.
Map-of-synchronous-electricity-grids-in-different-parts-of-the-world-12-Map-of.png
The above map is from Wittmann, Veronika & Arici, Elif & Meissner, D.. (2021). The Nexus of World Electricity and Global Sustainable Development. Energies. 14. 5843. 10.3390/en14185843. In the same paper, there is a map of how the world is or could be connected. The reference given is: Liu, Z. Global Energy Interconnection; Elsevier: London, UK, 2015. [CrossRef] The map is from 2015, but should give an idea:
World grid.png
The Wiki lists the grid networks in Western Europe:


440px-ElectricityUCTE.svg.png

To give an idea of how the networks are connected, Grid Map has a different map from January 1, 2019, where the first image shows cross border connections:

Cross border Europe 01012019.png
And with the national grids selected, more details of the network are visible:
European grid 01012019.png

The working of these large grids is explained in Wide area synchronous grid
"In a synchronous grid, all the generators naturally lock together electrically and run at the same frequency, and stay very nearly in phase with each other. For rotating generators, a local governor regulates the driving torque, and helps maintain more or less constant speed as loading changes. Droop speed control ensures that multiple parallel generators share load changes in proportion to their rating. Generation and consumption must be balanced across the entire grid, because energy is consumed as it is produced. Energy is stored in the immediate short term by the rotational kinetic energy of the generators.​
Small deviations from the nominal system frequency are very important in regulating individual generators and assessing the equilibrium of the grid as a whole. When the grid is heavily loaded, the frequency slows, and governors adjust their generators so that more power is output (droop speed control). When the grid is lightly loaded the grid frequency runs above the nominal frequency, and this is taken as an indication by Automatic Generation Control systems across the network that generators should reduce their output."​
The Swiss power company, Swissgrid, has a page that shows the power frequency related to time in the whole grid.
Swissgrid time.png
The frequency is just below 50 Hz, so there is a slightly higher load on the generators than the ideal situation. The total lack is 17 seconds, but compared to when I checked last evening, the system has gained 12 seconds.

The Swissgrid page explains the principles of monitoring the grid:
Wide Area Monitoring
The Wide Area Monitoring platform allows grid operators to monitor the stability of grids across great distances. It connects metering stations throughout Europe: from Portugal to Turkey and from Denmark to Sicily.

Devices in the relevant substations at multiple locations in Europe measure the grid frequencies at synchronised times, calculate the frequency and deliver the associated data in real time. Swissgrid uses Wide Area Monitoring to constantly monitor the processes in the European electricity grid and to detect the direction in which the energy is flowing. This helps Swissgrid plan transport capacities and keep its domestic grid in equilibrium.
The need for the power producing companies to be flexible and the narrow limits within which they function, may force them to shut off a part of the grid, in case they can't meet the demands. So far, most of the time the can.

The Wide area synchronous grid Wiki explains how this connectedness sometimes can lead to problems:
For timekeeping purposes, over the course of a day the operating frequency will be varied so as to balance out deviations and to prevent line-operated clocks from gaining or losing significant time by ensuring there are 4.32 million on 50 Hz, and 5.184 million cycles on 60 Hz systems each day.

This can, rarely, lead to problems. In 2018 Kosovo used more power than it generated due to a row with Serbia, leading to the phase in the whole synchronous grid of Continental Europe lagging behind what it should have been. The frequency dropped to 49.996 Hz. Over time, this caused synchronous electric clocks to become six minutes slow until the disagreement was resolved.[4]
The example above may show that with a large grid there is a possibility of sharing, in both easy times and difficult times.

The Wiki on power outage covers a number of different scenarios and explains some reasons for the blackouts. There are also links to several major incidents. In the 2003 Italy blackout for instance they write:
Researchers in physics and complex networks have modelled the 2003 Italy blackout as a cascade of failures in interdependent networks. Several nodes in the network of power stations failed, causing a failure of the Internet communication network, which in turn caused a further breakdown of power stations. The goal of research was to understand how to build more robust networks.[2]
Next is an example from the Wiki for the 2015 Turkey blackout. It shows how the power grid in one area may affect the functioning of the grid in another:
The 2015 Turkey blackout was a widespread power outage that occurred in almost all parts of Turkey in the morning of Tuesday, 31 March 2015.[1]

Due to line maintenance on the main East-West corridor, which connects hydropower rich Eastern Turkey with the population centers in Western Turkey, the remaining lines became overloaded after the Osmanca – Kursunlu line tripped, as the system was not in a n-1 secure state.[clarification needed] The electric system in Turkey split in half at CET 09:36:11 and separated from the Central European (CE) synchronous zone, i.e. connecting lines to Greece and Bulgaria also tripped. This was the reason that the disturbances only had effects in Turkey and did not cascade to neighbouring countries.

The two parts inside Turkey behaved differently. The Western part suffered from a lack generation (21%) and frequency went down. Load shedding schemes did stabilize the frequency, but as some power plants in Turkey did not cope with running at reduced frequency, additional power was lost and resulted in a blackout of the Western part. The Eastern part suffered from hydropower oversupply (41%) that wasn't able to flow westward.[2][3] The Eastern part was accelerated by ca. 1.6 Hz/s and culminated at 52.3 Hz. Power plants tripped due to overfrequency and the initially oversupplied Eastern part collapsed at underfrequency values less than 47.0 Hz.
If you are interested to learn about still more power outages, there is a list of major power outages.

Power outages/blackouts can be very disturbing, freezers may unfreeze, but also if the water pump is connected to the grid and the tap is left open when the water comes back on, it will begin to run. Sometimes there are secondary considerations to make when the power goes.
 
Source: Power outage hits large parts of Haarlem

Tuesday, October 19, 2021 - 13:28

Power outage hits large parts of Haarlem


A power outage hit a large part of Haarlem on Tuesday. Many streets in the city center, among others, will be without electricity until around 1:45 p.m., said grid operator Liander. At least the Stationsbuurt, Leidsevaartbuurt, and Rozenprieel are also affected by the outage.

Photos from local media show that shopkeepers are struggling with the consequences of the power outage. For example, an Albert Heijn supermarket blocked its entrance with shopping carts because the sliding doors can't close without electricity. Another photo shows that the check-in and check-out gates at the train station are not working.

The cause of the outage is still unclear.

Reporting by ANP.

A Dutch source reported later that about 11,000 houses and other (commercial} installations and organizations - including the town hall and the police headquarter - were affected. After a few hours the power failure had been resolved. Cause still unknown.
Liander has rerouted the power so that Haarlem has electricity again despite the failure. According to the grid operator, the failure has not led to any major problems.
 
State authorities in North-Rhine Westphalia will hold their first ‘Disaster Protection Day’ on Saturday, with instructors in the city of Bonn teaching citizens how to get by “in the event of a long power failure.” An advert by the federal Civil Protection Office gives a hint of what’s in store, and features an elderly woman wearing several layers of clothing, heating her apartment with candles burning under an upturned flower pot and sealing her windows with reflective foil.

 
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