How to fortify power grids against extreme weather

Extreme weather events can quickly overwhelm power grids, leading to blackouts that put lives at risk. KAPSARC researchers have reviewed power-grid planners’ assessment and response to extreme weather events to find improvements for systems resilience.

In February 2021, severe winter storms known as the ‘Great Texas Freeze’ had devastating consequences as record-low temperatures quickly overwhelmed the state’s power grid. The breakdown damaged the distribution infrastructure, with many power plants simply unable to cope with the extreme cold combined with a surge in demand for heating. Electrical grid operators attempted to prevent a total system collapse by implementing rolling power blackouts, however millions of people were left without electricity for days, resulting in many deaths.

“It is paramount that electricity markets are designed to cope with power system resilience to extreme events,” says Marie Petitet, who led the KAPSARC team, together with Burçin Ünel from the New York University School of Law. Liberalized capacity markets are designed to ensure that there is sufficient generating capacity available to meet peak demand: providers are paid to maintain a certain level of generating capacity. 

Texas was considered a role model in this type of market design, but the Great Texas Freeze has revealed frailties.

“We looked at the resiliency of power systems to extreme weather events, in the context of climate change, and showcased current actions undertaken in the United States and Europe to better prepare power systems for extreme events,” explains Petitet. “We have also provided recommendations for policymakers that could improve power systems’ resiliency through capacity markets.”

The team suggests enhancing methodologies to model, forecast and understand how extreme events can lead to power outages. “System planners and operators have to anticipate what could be an extreme event in their region and how the current or future power system could react,” says Petitet. “Their role is to prepare the power system to avoid outages during such events by adapting market rules, reinforcing the network, or investing in more generation units.”

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