The massive blackout that occurred in Seoul and other parts of Korea on September 15, 2011, was caused by electricity consumption exceeding supply, causing power plant turbines to shut down due to overload. To prevent this, comprehensive measures such as electricity conservation, government regulatory policies, and the introduction of smart grids are needed.
On September 15, 2011, a massive blackout occurred unexpectedly in Seoul’s Gangnam-gu and Yeouido districts, as well as in Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces. This was the first time a blackout had ever occurred in Korea. Traffic lights flickered, paralyzing traffic, air traffic control towers went dark, aviation was temporarily paralyzed, and other industries stopped production, causing huge economic losses. These large-scale power outages are known as blackouts. If electricity can be generated, why do blackouts occur on such a large scale?
There are about 59 power plants in Korea that generate electricity and supply it to industrial sites, homes, and businesses. One of the most important properties of electricity is that it cannot be stored. Since the electricity produced is used up, KEPCO recognizes it as one of its most important tasks to match the production and consumption of electricity and checks it in real time. Blackouts occur because the amount of electricity consumed does not match the amount of electricity supplied, and the power generation system stops because more electricity is consumed than is actually produced.
You may be wondering, why would the power generation system shut down when you can simply increase the supply if consumption has increased? This is due to another property of electricity: frequency. Electricity is wavelength energy that oscillates at a certain frequency. When electricity of different frequencies meet, they cancel or distort each other and can’t be combined. What creates a constant frequency is the constant speed at which turbines spin in a power plant, and power plants match the speeds of their turbines to within 0.1 of a second of each other to produce electricity that can be combined and used. As the turbines spin, they are under load, which is the fatigue and pressure a machine experiences when doing work. If a machine is under a lot of load and becomes dull, we say it is overloaded. If consumption exceeds supply, the turbines in a power plant will spin under greater load than before to increase supply, and as the load gets heavier and heavier, the speed at which the turbines spin may slow down. If this slows down beyond a certain threshold, the system shuts down the turbines because they are producing electricity of a disparate frequency, which destroys the electrical system. When one turbine shuts down, other turbines are put under greater load, which causes another turbine to shut down, and so on, until, like a domino effect, all power plants eventually shut down and all electricity is lost.
Therefore, due to the inability to store electricity and the fact that only electricity of the same frequency can be combined without offsetting or distorting each other, blackouts occur when the consumption of electricity exceeds the supply beyond a certain threshold.
There are several ways to prevent blackouts. First, people should voluntarily conserve electricity and reduce their consumption during peak hours in accordance with government policies. The government can prevent blackouts by establishing policies to regulate consumption when it exceeds a certain level and ensuring that power plants can be operated in case of emergencies. In addition, it is necessary to develop technology to monitor and control the production and consumption of electricity in real time by introducing a smart grid system. Smart grid systems maximize the efficiency of the power grid and increase the proportion of renewable energy to ensure a greener power supply.
The problem of blackouts is not unique to South Korea. Other countries around the world have experienced blackouts. In 2003, a massive blackout in the United States and Canada affected more than 50 million people. It exposed the vulnerability of the power grid and highlighted the need for modernization and smart grids in the power system. In 2012, India experienced a massive blackout that affected nearly 600 million people, highlighting the importance of power management systems.
These examples highlight the need for international cooperation and information sharing to prevent blackouts. It is important for countries to share their experiences and technologies and work together to increase the reliability of power systems. This will allow us to build a system that can compensate for the vulnerabilities of the grid and respond quickly in the event of a blackout.
Blackouts are caused by the non-storable nature of electricity and its frequency. To prevent them, comprehensive measures are needed, including voluntary electricity conservation efforts by the public, government regulatory policies, and the introduction of smart grids. From international examples, we can learn the importance of working together to prevent blackouts, which will lead to a safer and more reliable power system.
