SELF-ORGANIZED CRITICALITY PHENOMENON FOR POWER SYSTEM BLACKOUTS

Applying complex system theory and by means of analyzing partial data of power system blackouts in America, the power law relation between the scale of power system blackout and system frequency and the fractal and fractol features of the distribution of power system blackout scale are investigated in detail. The viewpoint that blackout phenomena can be explained by the concept of self-organized criticality is proposed. Based on the Hurst exponent, it is pointed out that power system blackouts are predictable.