A recent KAPSARC Instant Insight examined the reliability crisis in electric power grids, and proposed policy measures that can mitigate these risks (Felder 2022). The specific causes for these severe outages and blackouts differ, but the causes of greatest concern are those that result in multiple failures of grid facilities. In 2022, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) examined the increasing risks to the grids in the United States (U.S.), in particular hazards to the North American bulk power system (BPS). NERC highlighted a special concern related to the increased deployment of inverter-based resources: the unexpected tripping of solar PV resources that could incapacitate large amounts of generation, resulting in reliability challenges. This issue is particularly important to Saudi Arabia as it pursues the deployment of widespread, large-scale solar power plants.
