Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> one power line failure would never result in this level of catastrophe.

Called N-1 criterion. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contingency_(electrical_grid)#...

And it depends. During https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_European_blackout N-1 criterion was supposed to be holding, in practice not even N-0 was holding and network crashed.

Few years ago nearly entire day European network was sitting on N-0 due to multiple issues in Poland, caused by a heat wave and deeper root causes. There are many power plants and power lines where any further issue would cause Europe-wide blackout.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: