4. Operation under disturbed conditions

Electricity transmission networks in industrialized countries are designed to transport electrical energy safely, i.e. taking into account the most frequent contingencies, from generation centers to the points (source substations) where it is taken over by distribution networks.

However, no matter how well designed, the power system is not exempt from disasters characterized by a rapid collapse of the generation and transmission functions, and thus by a total and often prolonged shutdown of the electricity supply over a large part of the territory it supplies.

The physical explanations for these collapses will be developed in 4.2