Experience from the Athens blackout of July 12, 2004

On 12 July 2004 at 12:39 local time the south part of the Greek Interconnected Transmission System (including Athens) was split from the rest of the system and collapsed driving consumers with a total load of 4500 MW into blackout. Technical information about the causes, the evolution and the consequences of the blackout are presented in this paper. The report of a special committee appointed by the Ministry of Development of Greece immediately after the blackout is presented, as well the results of further studies including simulations with corrected data and generator adjustments.