Electric Utility Industry Experience with Geomagnetic Disturbances

Barnes, P.R.; Rizy, D.T.; Tesche, F.M.; Taylor, E. R.

doi:10.2172/814404

Cited by 12 publications

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“…This plot shows geomagnetic field x and y component data from the Ottawa observatory Canada (45.40°N 284.45°E), and derived GIC indices for the geomagnetic storm of 13 March 1989. The impacts of this storm on power networks have been well documented in the literature [ Barnes et al , 1991; Bolduc , 2002]. The times of transformer failure/network separation and line trip after power resumed is indicated by the vertical dashed markers in Figure 2 at 0744 UT and 2151 UT, respectively.…”

Section: Historical Analysismentioning

confidence: 90%

“…A literature search was conducted to obtain documented occurrences of GIC activity observed in power networks over the past several decades [ Barnes et al , 1991; Elovaara et al , 1992; Dickmander et al , 1994; Viljanen and Pirjola , 1994; Bozoki et al , 1996; Araki et al , 1997; Trivedi et al , 1997, 2007; Viljanen , 1997; Boteler et al , 1998; Boteler and Jansen van Beek , 1999; Kappenman et al , 2000; Kappenman , 2003, 2005; Pirjola , 2000; Thomson et al , 2001; Erinmez et al , 2002; Beamish et al , 2002; Bolduc , 2002; Lam et al , 2002; Koen and Gaunt , 2003; Beland and Small , 2004; Pulkkinen et al , 2005; Gaunt and Coetzee , 2007; Liu et al , 2009a; Ngwira et al , 2009; Watari et al , 2009; Wik et al , 2009]. Only occurrences that reported GIC activity with time stamps accurate to the nearest minute with corresponding location coordinates were selected for further analysis, providing a direct link between the geophysical phenomena and the technological impacts [ Pulkkinen et al , 2005].…”

Section: Historical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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A preliminary risk assessment of the Australian region power network to space weather

et al. 2011

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It is well documented that power networks at high latitudes are vulnerable to the effects of space weather. In recent years the eastern Australia state power networks have been connected across state boundaries in order to improve robustness under increasing load demands and deliver power at competitive prices. However, this interconnectivity is likely to increase susceptibility of the network to space weather. Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) flow in power transmission lines as the result of “geoelectric” fields and their associated geomagnetic field variations according to Faraday's Law. In this paper previously documented occurrences of GIC activity from regions around the world are investigated and categorized by their effects on nearby power networks. A frequency domain filter that produces an index representing GIC activity is applied to geomagnetic field data recorded at locations near the documented GIC activity to determine risk level “GIC index” thresholds. Geomagnetic field data from the Australian region are processed using the “GIC filter” to provide a preliminary risk assessment of space weather related GIC activity to the Australian power network. The analysis suggests lower limit threshold GICy indices of 50, 100, 250, and 600 corresponding to the risk levels of “low,” “moderate,” “high,” and “extreme,” respectively. Analysis of GICy indices derived from Australian magnetometer data shows that only southern Australian regions reached the “moderate” risk levels defined in this study with mainland southern Australia stations reaching this risk level twice over the previous two solar cycles. Southern Australian regions such as Tasmania reached moderate levels approximately 20 times during the previous solar cycle. Furthermore, elevated risk levels are typically only observed in Australia during solar maximum and its decline phase.

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Section: Historical Analysismentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Historical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

A preliminary risk assessment of the Australian region power network to space weather

et al. 2011

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“…Spectral power is distributed across a broad wash of periods with maximum spectral power at about 2 π / ω 0 = T 0 =300 s, though it is important to recognize that, in general, every magnetic storm time series has its own unique power spectrum. Note that electric utility companies, in their evaluation of the vulnerability of high‐voltage power grid transformers, are concerned with geomagnetic field variations occurring across periods of about 10 to 1000 s (about 10 −3 to 10 −1 Hz) [e.g., Barnes et al , ; NERC , , ].…”

Section: Magnetic Storm Spectrummentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping geoelectric fields during magnetic storms: Synthetic analysis of empirical United States impedances

Bedrosian

Love

2015

Geophysical Research Letters

116

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Empirical impedance tensors obtained from EarthScope magnetotelluric data at sites distributed across the midwestern United States are used to examine the feasibility of mapping magnetic storm induction of geoelectric fields. With these tensors, in order to isolate the effects of Earth conductivity structure, we perform a synthetic analysis—calculating geoelectric field variations induced by a geomagnetic field that is geographically uniform but varying sinusoidally with a chosen set of oscillation frequencies that are characteristic of magnetic storm variations. For north‐south oriented geomagnetic oscillations at a period of T0=100 s, induced geoelectric field vectors show substantial geographically distributed differences in amplitude (approximately a factor of 100), direction (up to 130∘), and phase (over a quarter wavelength). These differences are the result of three‐dimensional Earth conductivity structure, and they highlight a shortcoming of one‐dimensional conductivity models (and other synthetic models not derived from direct geophysical measurement) that are used in the evaluation of storm time geoelectric hazards for the electric power grid industry. A hypothetical extremely intense magnetic storm having 500 nT amplitude at T0=100 s would induce geoelectric fields with an average amplitude across the midwestern United States of about 2.71 V/km, but with a representative site‐to‐site range of 0.15 V/km to 16.77 V/km. Significant improvement in the evaluation of such hazards will require detailed knowledge of the Earth's interior three‐dimensional conductivity structure.

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“…The northeast is supported by an intricate network of systems for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power (e.g., Abraham, ) that have, for various reasons, occasionally failed, resulting in widespread blackouts (e.g., Nye, ). Northeastern power grid systems have also experienced occasional operational stress during intense magnetic storms—that of 13–14 March 1989 caused numerous operational “anomalies” in northeastern power grid systems (North American Electric Reliability Corporation, NERC, ) and it damaged a high‐voltage transformer at the nuclear power plant in Salem, New Jersey (Barnes et al, ; Rossi, ). The same storm precipitated the collapse of the Hydro‐Québec power grid system to the north, in Canada (Béland & Small, ; Bolduc, ), leaving 6 million people without electricity for 9 hr (e.g., Allen et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme‐Value Geoelectric Amplitude and Polarization Across the Northeast United States

et al. 2019

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Maps are presented of extreme-value geoelectric field amplitude and horizontal polarization for the Northeast United States. These maps are derived from geoelectric time series calculated for sites across the Northeast by frequency-domain multiplication (time-domain convolution) of 172 magnetotelluric impedance tensors, acquired during a survey, with decades-long, 1-min resolution time series of geomagnetic variation, acquired at three magnetic observatories. The maps show that, during intense magnetic storms, high geoelectric amplitude hazards are realized across electrically resistive, igneous and metamorphic rock of the Appalachian Mountains and the New England Highlands, while low geoelectric hazards are realized across electrically conductive, sedimentary rock of the Appalachian Plateau and the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. From statistical extrapolation, once-per-century (100-year) geoelectric amplitudes are highest at a site in Virginia at 25.44 V/km (followed by a site in Maine at 21.75 V/km and a site in Connecticut at 19.39 V/km); 100-year geoelectric amplitude exceeds 10 V/km at 12 sites across the northeast; geoelectric amplitude is lowest at a site in Virginia at 0.05 V/km. Average errors for these values are estimated to be about 38%, or much less than the more than 2 orders of magnitude range seen in geoelectric amplitudes from one survey site to another across the northeast. It is noteworthy that geoelectric fields tend to be most (least) polarized at locations with high (low) geoelectric hazard. Furthermore, geoelectric fields over the Appalachians tend to be polarized southeast-to-northwest, or generally in a direction orthogonal to the southwest-to-northeast geological strike. Results reported here inform utility companies in projects for evaluating and managing the response of power grid systems to the deleterious effects of geomagnetic disturbance.

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Electric Utility Industry Experience with Geomagnetic Disturbances

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

A preliminary risk assessment of the Australian region power network to space weather

A preliminary risk assessment of the Australian region power network to space weather

Mapping geoelectric fields during magnetic storms: Synthetic analysis of empirical United States impedances

Extreme‐Value Geoelectric Amplitude and Polarization Across the Northeast United States

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