Blackout
The Network Code on Emergency and Restoration is an EU regulation mandating that all transmission and distribution system operators develop and regularly update comprehensive plans for responding to and restoring the grid after major disturbances and blackouts.
The regulation is binding and in force across the EU, establishing a standardized legal and operational framework for blackout preparedness and grid resilience.
Key Objective:
Design a solution that would enable a power company to restore grid operations, suspend operations for specific markets, prioritize service for critical users (e.g., hospitals), and conduct regular simulations and testing of emergency actions.
Solution
In 2021, BCom was contracted by a major telecommunications operator in France to design a solution for one of its end-customers, France’s main electricity distributor, to comply with the new regulations. BCom was tasked with creating two types of satcom systems using 1.2m antennas, one that could sustain winds of both 120Km/h and 200Km/h, as well as other challenging weather conditions, like snow accumulation and heat.
Without using off-the-shelf products, BCom designed and created two customized systems using a standard 1.2m antenna and all necessary equipment for deicing and heating to meet the customer’s requirements.
By end of 2021, both systems successfully passed the wind tunnel test, achieving resilience against winds of 140Km/h and 240 Km/h.
In all, BCom deployed the solution across more than 2,000 sites, allowing the grid to remain active and operational during the Ciarán storm that hit all of Europe, and especially France, in 2023.
