SA Blackouts: The topic has been analysed from every angle as the media cycle moves on from the South Australian blackouts which occurred at the end of last month.
Here is how it could have been prevented:
 

What shut the system down?

The one-in-50 year storm of course caused the initial damage and knocked out some of the distribution infrastructure, prompting the system to protect itself by shutting down.By all accounts the main cause of the massive power trip was attributed to the frequency shift. This happens when the grid gets overloaded or short circuit happens in the transmission. The system detects this unusual condition and protects itself by shutting down. As a result South Australia was plunged into darkness - but could this have been prevented?
 

The answer is yes..

Utility Scale Energy Storage can regulate the grid frequency fast and prevent it from shut down.
 

Another culprit and cause for shut down is the grid voltage. The grid system is designed to operate within a certain voltage range. Deviation from this will cause the system to self-protect.

Utility Scale Energy Storage can regulate the grid voltage fast.

A super storm is not the only phenomenon that can cause the grid to lose itself. There are more mundane problems:

Transmission Congestion

This is when the flow of power is constrained by a component of the transmission system. This could be a piece of equipment, the transmission line or the protection itself. In severe conditions this too can cause power outage.

Utility Scale Energy Storage can relieve transmission congestion by injecting the needed power - fast. 

Peak Demand

Electrical transmission systems are designed to cope with peak demand from consumers. However there are times like during a heatwave that the peak demand exceeds the capability of the transmission system, and again the system has no choice but to protect itself - resulting in power outage.

Utility Scale Energy Storage can charge during low demand and provide the peak power when needed.

Generation Capacity Constraints

Spinning reserve is a generation capacity that has to be available should the generator be called upon to give more power than it is designed for, otherwise shut-down due to overload will result. 

Utility Scale Energy Storage can provide this power in a fraction of a second.
 

Renewables

Some were very quick to point fingers at renewable technology for the South Australian disaster. Although this position may be politically motivated, there is some truth in this as renewables by their unpredictable nature can cause disturbance in the grid system. But once again the answer is energy storage.

Utility Scale Energy Storage can store the renewable power and smooth its affect on the grid...
And if all else fails the energy storage will provide the much needed emergency power almost instantly.



Magellan Power's State of the Art Utility Scale Energy Storage system (above) is rugged, smart, flexible and easy to install & operate. Combined with an uncompromising dedicated service that can only come from a local manufacturer, the ESU Energy Storage will give years of service, day in - day out. 

Rugged
A quarter of a century worth of experience in designing and manufacturing high reliability industrial power electronics equipment has resulted in a modular, redundant design that works in the harshest of Australian conditions. 

Flexible
The ESU inverters are designed to work with various battery technologies: Lithium, Lead Acid and Flow Batteries. Using smart communication protocols, the Utility Scale Energy Storage is totally programmable and can be controlled internally and externally. 

Smart 
The Magellan Proprietary Dynamic Controller uses detailed and frequently updated weather forecasts together with a machine learning algorithm to maximise the use of generated and stored renewable energies. 

Click here for Utility Scale Energy Storage Brochure.