Electric utility industry experience with geomagnetic disturbances

Barnes, P. R.; Rizy, D. T.; McConnell, B. W.; Taylor, J. R.; Tesche, F. M.

doi:10.2172/5985934

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…This caused transformers to saturate and resulted in harmonic generation and large reactive power demands. Such disturbances can cause relay trips and major power blackouts 5 . Severe voltage swings or voltage depression can also occur and may precede blackout; such voltage swings and/or brownout conditions can damage customer equipment.…”

Section: Mhd-emp Effects On Commercial Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation of Magnetohydrodynamic Electromagnetic Pulse (MHD-EMP) Effects from Commercial Electric Power Systems

Barnes¹,

Tesche²,

Vance³

1992

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Section: Mhd-emp Effects On Commercial Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation of Magnetohydrodynamic Electromagnetic Pulse (MHD-EMP) Effects from Commercial Electric Power Systems

Barnes¹,

Tesche²,

Vance³

1992

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“…During geomagnetic storms, electric currents are induced in the conducting Earth. These currents propagate into power lines through the transformers that are grounded, causing quasi-direct current (DC) known as geomagnetically induced currents (GICs; e.g., Barnes et al, 1991;Lanzerotti, 1983;Love et al, 2014;Trichtchenko, 2016). As they pass through transformer windings, these currents can cause transformer half-cycle saturation, which results in adverse effects to the bulk power system, including harmonic distortion and reactive power loss.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modified GIC Estimation Using 3‐D Earth Conductivity

Kelbert

Lucas

2020

Space Weather

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Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) are quasi‐direct current (DC) electric currents that flow in technological conductors during geomagnetic storms. Extreme GICs are hazardous to man‐made infrastructure. GICs enter and exit the technological systems, such as the electric power grid, at grounding points, and their magnitudes depend on the currents that flow underground. They are, therefore, a function of the Earth's electrical conductivity, represented at ground level as Earth impedances, as well as the resistance parameters of the power network. Traditional GIC estimation practices are based on Earth impedances obtained from laterally homogeneous or piecewise layered‐Earth models. We refer to these methods, collectively, as the 1‐D approximation. However, GIC hazard mitigation can be improved with more accurate GIC modeling that takes the spatially heterogeneous Earth's conductivity into account. Here, we propose a modified approximation for GIC estimation that is very similar to the 1‐D approximation but is instead derived from empirical 3‐D Earth impedances. Our formulation sets up the computation of static, frequency‐dependent power line telluric response functions, which, once computed, may be considered part of the power grid system model. These response functions may then be used for historical scenario analysis of GIC hazards and for simplified real‐time, albeit approximate, GIC estimation in a power grid. This modest modification to the simpler local field formulation approach avoids real‐time integration of geoelectric fields along power lines while taking the realistic 3‐D Earth into account in a rigorous manner. Once implemented, the method provides a power grid operator with the benefits of convenience and computational speed for a first look real‐time operational GIC hazard assessment. We estimate that the proposed modified 3‐D GIC modeling approach produces GIC values that are well within 50% of those obtained with the full‐scale power line integration of spatially variable geoelectric fields, for storms comparable in scale to the 2003 Halloween storm, all geological structures, and power lines located in the contiguous United States and other low‐ to middle‐latitude regions.

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Modeling Geomagnetically Induced Currents From Magnetometer Measurements: Spatial Scale Assessed With Reference Measurements

et al. 2017

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Solar‐driven disturbances generate geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) that can result in power grid instability and, in the most extreme cases, even failure. Magnetometers provide direct measurements of the geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) effect on the surface magnetic field and GIC response can be determined from the power grid topology and engineering parameters. This paper considers this chain of models: transforming surface magnetic field disturbance to induced surface electric field through an electromagnetic transfer function and, then, induced surface electric field to GIC using the PowerWorld simulator to model a realistic power grid topology. Comparisons are made to transformer neutral current reference measurements provided by the American Transmission Company. Three GMD intervals are studied, with the Kp index reaching 8− on 2 October 2013, 7 on 1 June 2013, and 6− on 9 October 2013. Ultimately, modeled to measured GIC correlations are analyzed as a function of magnetometer to GIC sensor distance. Results indicate that modeling fidelity during the three studied GMD intervals is strongly dependent on both magnetometer to substation transformer baseline distance and GMD intensity.

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Electric utility industry experience with geomagnetic disturbances

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Mitigation of Magnetohydrodynamic Electromagnetic Pulse (MHD-EMP) Effects from Commercial Electric Power Systems

Mitigation of Magnetohydrodynamic Electromagnetic Pulse (MHD-EMP) Effects from Commercial Electric Power Systems

Modified GIC Estimation Using 3‐D Earth Conductivity

Modeling Geomagnetically Induced Currents From Magnetometer Measurements: Spatial Scale Assessed With Reference Measurements

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