Analysis of the Power Blackout in the Ethiopian Electric Power Grid

Abstract

In recent years, with an increasing load demand for rural electrification and industrialization, the Ethiopian power system has faced more frequent, widely spread and long-lasting blackouts. To identify the impacts, analyzing and studying the reasons and the mechanisms of such blackouts would be the first step and so, the January 6^th, 2016 blackout of the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) is reviewed based on the data that are available at the National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC) archive. The analysis is done by considering the sequential phases of the blackout: system condition prior to the power failure, initiating events, cascading events, the final state of the power system and its restoration. Computer simulations are then performed using DIgSILENT PowerFactory software to identify the root cause of the blackout and evaluate the initiating event that had triggered the sequence of events that followed. In doing so, two procedures are followed. Firstly, power flow simulation is run to analyze the system performance under steady state conditions to determine the voltage magnitude at critical buses and the loadings of lines and generators prior to the disturbance. Secondly, time domain simulations are performed to analyze the system performance under transient conditions for the specified initiating and cascading events. Above all the possible method is suggested for the prevention of such incidents.