NESO strengthening resilience after European blackouts

The system operator is stepping up measures to ensure resilience of GB’s power grid in the wake of the blackouts in Spain and Portugal earlier this year.

In a report, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) said although the country has one of the most reliable networks in the world, it would be “guilty of complacency” if it did not reflect on what happened in April.

It said it will continue to build on existing planning, testing, and system monitoring capabilities.

The report looked at the various factors which led to the blackouts and compared these with the situation in GB.

“In short, the report finds that NESO has taken action to mitigate many of the risks seen in Iberia and must continue to build on existing planning, testing, and system monitoring capabilities, particularly in voltage management,” it said.

Other steps it said were essential include monitoring data and asset availability from Transmission Owners (TOs). Resilient communications between control centres, real-time data, and coordination between system operators and network owners must also be prioritised.