The Energy Collective

The world's best thinkers on energy and climate

  • Home
  • Post Here
  • Columns
    • Electricity Markets & Policy Group
    • Full Spectrum
    • Energy and Policy Developments
    • Game Changers
    • Energy for Human Development
    • Seeking Consensus
    • Green Growth
    • New Energy Voices
  • Fuels
    • Oil
    • Wind
    • Nuclear Power
    • Coal
    • Natural Gas
    • Solar Power
    • Renewables
    • Biofuels
    • Geothermal Energy
    • Wave & Tidal
    • Hydro Power
  • Environment
    • Carbon and De-carbonization
    • International Climate Conferences
    • Sustainability
    • Climate
    • Public Health
    • Water
    • Recycling
  • Grid
    • Smart Grid
    • Electricity
  • Tech
    • Cleantech
    • Green Building
    • Storage
    • Rare Earth Minerals
  • Business and Economy
    • Cap-and-Trade
    • Agriculture
    • Efficiency
    • Green Business
    • Utilities
    • Finance
    • Green Jobs
    • Subsidies
    • Risk Management
  • Politics
    • Environmental Policy
    • Energy Security
    • Communications and Messaging
    • China
  • Transport
  • Help
    • FAQ
  • Account
    • Login
    • Register

Q&A Series: Geomagnetic Disturbances & Power Outages Part II

February 11, 2013 by Andrew Lawless

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

ImageOn January 15, 2013, I presented a webcast on Energy Central titled, “Geomagnetic Disturbances and their Impacts on Power Transformers”. You can view the presentation here.

The presentation generated many questions from the audience that I did not have time to address. This blog post addresses a few of those questions. Stay tuned for more posts with more questions and answers.

Question: Some people are claiming that a Geomagnetic Disturbances (GMD) event can result in large scale transformer failures. From a manufacturer’s point of view, what is, realistically, the magnitude of the risk of large-scale transformer failure

Answer: The literature cites a few cases where transformer thermal damage has been attributed to Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC). These cases indicate that the transformers in question were removed from service after the GMD event.

However, no forced outage or failure of a transformer due to GIC current has occurred during a GMD event is known. Given this, a large scale transformer failure involving multiple units would require a storm of cataclysmic proportions and one where the duration of maximum GIC flow was unprecedented.  NOAA is currently developing a “1-in-100 year” storm scenario, which indicates that such a monumental storm is extremely unlikely.

Question: Aside from harmonics, are there effects of GIC on 3-phase current and voltage waveforms that would be visible through CTs or VTs?

Answer: In addition to harmonic distortion, waveform magnitude may be reduced due to increased var demands from GIC-caused transformer saturation.  If additional system var support is not added in anticipation of major GMD events, this lack is expected to lead to system voltage collapse.

Question: Were any lives lost during the Quebec 1989 event?  How much property and commercial loss?

Answer: Technical literature references equipment damage to the electric system. More complete information about the outage can be found in “HQ System Blackout of March 13, 1989:  System Response to Geomagnetic Disturbance”, presented at EPRI Conference on GIC, November 8, 1989, San Francisco, California.

Question: Are there events outside North America that can be used for study and analysis and lessons?

Answer: Nordic GMD experience is extensive, due to high Northern latitudes. See 2012 report by Lund University, (“Risk Analysis of Geomagnetically Induced Currents in Power Systems”, pg. 15 and Appendix) for a complete discussion. In particular, the Halloween storm of October 2003 had a localized Swedish 130 kV outage due to harmonics and relay mis-operation. Stefan Arnborg, Swedish National Grid (SNG) reported at the 2012 EISS Summit “no equipment damage reported during more than 60 years of GMD monitoring, negligible GMD cost experienced and for severe GMDs, SNG anticipates voltage collapse without equipment damage.”

Related posts:

Can Entrenched Energy Systems Undergo Rapid Changes? Demand Response Will Double By 2020: Here’s Why Top 10 Utility Commission Issues to Watch in 2015 Batteries Shmatteries: Let’s Talk About the Biggest Type of Solar Storage

Andrew Lawless

Filed Under: Electricity Grid, Energy Security, Risk Management, Utilities Tagged With: geoengineering

The Energy Collective Columns

Full Spectrum: Energy Analysis and Commentary with Jesse JenkinsEnergy and Policy Developments with John Miller
Game Changers column badgeEnergy for Human Development Column
Seeking Consensus with Schalk CloeteGreen Growth with Silvio Marcacci
New Energy VoicesMore coming soon...

Latest comments

  • Bas Gresnigt on Closing Nuclear Reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania Will Thwart Climate Goals What has been shown is that nuclear power plants that do more load following run into a variety of p (April 20, 2018 at 3:15 PM)
  • Mark Heslep on Closing Nuclear Reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania Will Thwart Climate Goals "History shows that nuclear can deliver only base load. Hence it needs fossil plants to deliver the (April 20, 2018 at 2:09 PM)
  • Bas Gresnigt on Closing Nuclear Reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania Will Thwart Climate Goals Fraunhofer institute gathered real data on the subject. In their graph (showed below) you can see th (April 20, 2018 at 1:59 PM)
  • Bas Gresnigt on New Solar Capacity Exceeded All Other Fuel Sources Combined in 2017, Study Finds Bob, Why so negative? Once the costs of nuclear were less than fossil. Partly thanks to in hindsig (April 20, 2018 at 11:05 AM)

Advisory Panel

About the panel

Scott Edward Anderson is a consultant, blogger, and media commentator who blogs at The Green Skeptic. More »


Christine Hertzog is a consultant, author, and a professional explainer focused on Smart Grid. More »


Elias Hinckley is a strategic advisor on energy finance and energy policy to investors, energy companies and governments More »


Gary Hunt Gary is an Executive-in-Residence at Deloitte Investments with extensive experience in the energy & utility industries. More »


Jesse Jenkins is a graduate student and researcher at MIT with expertise in energy technology, policy, and innovation. More »


Jim Pierobon helps trade associations/NGOs, government agencies and companies communicate about cleaner energy solutions. More »


Geoffrey Styles is Managing Director of GSW Strategy Group, LLC and an award-winning blogger. More »


Featured Contributors

Rod Adams

Scott Edward Anderson

Charles Barton

Barry Brook

Steven Cohen

Dick DeBlasio

Senator Pete Domenici

Simon Donner

Big Gav

Michael Giberson

Kirsty Gogan

James Greenberger

Lou Grinzo

Jesse Grossman

Tyler Hamilton

Christine Hertzog

David Hone

Gary Hunt

Jesse Jenkins

Sonita Lontoh

Rebecca Lutzy

Jesse Parent

Jim Pierobon

Vicky Portwain

Willem Post

Tom Raftery

Joseph Romm

Robert Stavins

Robert Stowe

Geoffrey Styles

Alex Trembath

Gernot Wagner

Dan Yurman

 

 

 

Follow Us

32-linkedin 32-facebook 32-twitter 32-rss

Content for personal use only. Distribution prohibited. Republication in part or in whole is strictly prohibited. © All rights reserved Energy Central © 2018

Recent Comments

  • Bas Gresnigt on Closing Nuclear Reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania Will Thwart Climate Goals
  • Mark Heslep on Closing Nuclear Reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania Will Thwart Climate Goals
  • Bas Gresnigt on Closing Nuclear Reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania Will Thwart Climate Goals

Recent Posts

  • UK Will Legislate Net-Zero Carbon Emissions Target, Says Minister
  • Why EPA’s U-Turn on Auto Efficiency Rules Gives China the Upper Hand
  • U.S. Natural Gas Production and Consumption Increase in Nearly All AEO2018 Cases

Useful Pages

  • Terms of Use
  • Comments Policy
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • Help
  • About and Contact Us
Copyright © 2018 Energy Central. All Rights Reserved
This site uses cookies, for a number of reasons. By continuing to use this website you accept the use of cookies. Find out more.