The aftermath of the 2025 Iberian blackout highlighted how rapidly changing grid conditions can overwhelm traditional monitoring and control processes. In response, EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) has announced a global initiative to modernise how the electric sector detects, anticipates, and responds to emerging risks and manages increasing complexity in an era of rapid change. The effort, under the name Rapid Adaptation of Grid Defense, Analytics, and Resilience (RADAR), is intended to provide a scalable framework, advanced tools, and targeted training to help the sector strengthen grid resilience and reliability.
Over the next 15 years, says EPRI, the great majority of global power systems are likely to undergo a dramatic transformation in generation and demand, with increasing levels of inverter-based and distributed resources. This is ushering in a new paradigm of highly dynamic grids, requiring next-generation control strategies, planning processes, and workforce training to maintain reliability.
Founding global members of the initiative include US utilities Duke Energy and Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and internationally-based companies such as RTE in France and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE).
“The 2025 Iberian blackout highlights how increased grid complexity can drive fast-changing grid conditions that can overwhelm legacy systems and processes,” commented Daniel Brooks, EPRI senior vice president of energy delivery and customer solutions. “By working together, RADAR can accelerate frameworks for assessing vulnerabilities and the adoption of best practices and scalable solutions for resilient future grids.”
Other expected key outcomes of RADAR will be to develop a practical blueprint and path that organisations can adapt to their own functional organisational design to ensure reliability amid rapid grid changes, Identifying and addressing limitations, and demonstrating approaches to close gaps in current tools, data, and workflows to better manage the complexity of modern-day grids, and the development and implementation of training for utility personnel to address advanced topics in power system planning and operations.
