Re: The Spanish Grid Drop-out - recently released information.

On 2025-05-10 9:46 a.m., Bill Sloman wrote:

One of my LinkedIn contacts - an IEEE contact in this case - posted some
new data on LinkedIn, from a "Simon Gallagher, Managing Director at UK
Networks Services | CEng | FIET | FEI | MBA "

"We have had an update from ENTSO-E on the Spanish complete power
failure. It is limited, but it helps to build the picture. I have
updated our charts with the new information.

Updated timeline:

1. Large generators in the South of Spain started to trip at 12:32:57
CET. Over a period of 20 seconds a total of 2.2GW was lost – this is
well beyond largest infeed so not secured against

2. The frequency looks to have been contained by system reserves until
what looks like a large trip at 12:33:16

3. At this stage, the frequency falls at about 0.5 Hz/s for 4 seconds,
until a rapid collapse starts

...

"While I think a lack of inertia had an impact here, that does not mean
that the level of solar and wind was to blame - rather it is how it has
been integrated - more grid forming inverters, more rotating mass is
needed, I suspect."

Perhaps for systems that have large solar or wind arrays they could use
a number of large rotating masses to smooth over these burps? Vacuum and
magnetic bearings...

I imagine a series of rotating masses so if any single or several fail
(earthquake, etc.) the system wouldn't collapse.

As you say, there is little inertia in these solar systems unlike water
or fuel generated power.

John :-#)#