Case Study: Georgian State Electrosystem prevents blackouts with SEL emergency control and remedial action systems

Georgian State Electrosystem - Customer Case Study

Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE), the power transmission operator for the country of Georgia, faced a critical challenge with frequent nationwide blackouts caused by an unstable and aging power grid. These blackouts, sometimes occurring 14 times a year, posed a severe economic and national security risk. GSE engaged Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) to implement a fast-acting emergency control system to prevent these cascading failures.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories designed and installed a remedial action scheme (RAS) that could evaluate the entire power system and initiate load shedding in milliseconds. The solution was successfully tested in a live environment by intentionally tripping a critical 500 kV line without causing a blackout. As a result, GSE ended the era of widespread blackouts, gained greater grid visibility and control, and later achieved international quality certification, enabling energy trading with neighboring countries.

Georgian State Electrosystem

Aleko Didbaridze

Engineer