The challenge of avoiding blackouts and maintaining power grid stability is not new. Interruptions to our electricity supply can arise from a variety of perennial causes such as extreme weather, wildlife or vegetation overgrowth.

Although such outages happen regularly, they are by and large contained in the local area impacted by the event. This is by design: grids have been engineered to be stable, with multiple attributes and services in place to withstand shocks. However, if regulations, system planning and operational practices fail to keep up with evolving system needs, the grid may not have the tools it needs to remain stable. The result can be a cascading series of failures ending in a system-wide blackout.

Grids around the world are modernising, adding renewables, new ‘digital’ loads such as electric vehicles and data centres, and using smart technology to augment and replace traditional physical infrastructure. While these changes have created new challenges for managing system stability, they have also allowed for new tools to do so.

Places like South Australia, Ireland, the U.S. states of Texas, California and the Island of Hawaii have gone through immense changes in the past decade as they have transitioned away from fossil fuels towards renewables. Regions around the world can learn from these real-life examples of how the right regulatory framework can underpin reliable grid operation.

This guide, developed in collaboration with INETTT, the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks, builds on the successes and failures of these frontrunner regions, and other research, to help policymakers, regulators and system operators ensure system stability.

It equips the non-technical reader with the key concepts, regulations, roles and responsibilities that support system stability during the clean energy transition.

We offer this guide to:

• Explain grid stability.
• Outline the technologies that can keep the grid stable as we transition to a cleaner, more modern grid.
• Present governance and regulatory reforms that decision-makers can enact to implement a high-performing set of grid stability solutions.
• Share an examination of myths and misinformation that commonly spread in the immediate aftermath of a power outage, to provide readers with communications lines they can deploy.

As we modernise power grids, our approach to stability must continue to evolve along with the technologies and regulations that underpin it. With this guidance, we hope to make the process straightforward.

For further assistance in implementing regulatory frameworks for system stability in your jurisdiction, please reach out to RAP’s Energy System Innovation (ESI) team for support [email protected]. ESI is a rapid-response team that leverages experienced regulatory practitioners to combine global best practice with real-world reform experience to help leaders capture the potential created by changing energy systems. ESI can offer technical regulatory assistance to support governments, regulators and utilities as they implement reforms to decarbonise the power sector and foster efficient electrification.