4 ms·
THIS!! Having a full set of spares requires zero re-engineering of the existing grid, and will turn a multi-year grid failure catastrophe into a few days to re
by toss1 5y ago
THIS!!
Having a full set of spares requires zero re-engineering of the existing grid, and will turn a multi-year grid failure catastrophe into a few days to restore critical components and some weeks of restoring full function.
Since our solid solar observation capabilities now give several days notice before arrival of such storms, some could even be pre-positioned at critical substations.
And you are absolutely correct that the DOD would have very good reason to do this - losing the grid nationwide would be an insane level national security risk.
- Fatnino 5y agoWhy not just disconnect the working ones at the same time and then they don't get fried
- toss1 5y agoThat could definitely help. However, while I don't have the numbers, I'd expect that the required labor to disconnect them all would vastly exceed the 24-72 hour warning time. Also, this would mean proactively shutting down the entire grid for days, at the first warning, then requiring days to restore power. So one warning would require a full week of zero power for the continent, and (I expect) saving only part of the grid. But yeah, putting in some planning to do that would be a smart idea.
- bcrl 5y agoPart of the challenge is that transformers for individual homes are at risk. Throw a significant DC voltage across a transformer designed to handle 60 Hz AC, and the results are not going to be pretty.