Present day challenges in understanding the geomagnetic hazard to national power grids

Power grids and pipeline networks at all latitudes are known to be at risk from the natural hazard of geomagnetically induced currents. At a recent workshop in South Africa, UK and South African scientists and engineers discussed the current understanding of this hazard, as it affects major power systems in Europe and Africa. They also summarised, to better inform the public and industry, what can be said with some certainty about the hazard and what research is yet required to develop useful tools for geomagnetic hazard mitigation

Space Weather and Power Grids - A Vulnerability Assessment

Strong geomagnetic disturbances resulting from solar activity can have a major impact on ground-based infrastructures, such as power grids, pipelines and railway systems. The high voltage transmission network is particularly affected as currents induced by geomagnetic storms, so-called GICs, can severely damage network equipment possibly leading to system collapse. Therefore, increasing attention has been devoted to understanding the vulnerability of power grids to space weather conditions. In this study, we aim at analysing the vulnerability of power grids to extreme space weather. By means of complex network theory, we propose an analysis approach to understand how geomagnetically induced currents are driven through the power network based on its structural and physical characteristics. As a test network we used the Finnish power grid for which a study using network centrality measures was carried out to understand which components are the most critical for the system when exposed to an electric field of 1V/km. This information is helpful as the identification and ranking of critical components can help to identify where and how mitigation measures should be implemented to increase the system’s resilience to space weather impact. We have also subjected the grid to varying angles of the electric field. In addition, we have carried out a scoping study adding load flow to the GICs induced in the system. The preliminary results suggest that the benchmark system can resist GICs induced from high intensity electric fields. Moreover, the simplified network seems more prone to collapse if the electric field is oriented northward. Work is underway to further validate and expand our approach with the aim to eventually carry out a risk assessment of space weather impact on the power grid at EU level.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

Risk assessment of a solar attack according to ISO 31000 standard

Energy supply remains the greatest challenge for many of Eastern European countries and their economy. In post-soviet and ex-Yugoslavian countries, till today there exists a system where some of the power plants rely on high voltage (HV) and medium voltage (MV) power grids in the process of distribution of electric energy (EE) to final consumers. This makes them vulnerable to solar storms due to HV power transformers which are especially sensitive to geomagnetic induced current (GIC). The acquisition of electrical power infrastructure could put the electrical infrastructure out of service from a couple of months to a year or more. Loss of income, for ordinary families, is a primary hazard of a long power outage. Business continuity of industry and other critical infrastructures (CI) is important in this scenario, but it is a significant challenge for small businesses and enterprises as well. This paper introduces ISO 31000 standard to such scenarios with the primary goal of achieving resilience of companies against such disaster as a new method of vial response to avoid scope of similar hazards

An Overview of Science Challenges Pertaining to our Understanding of Extreme Geomagnetically Induced Currents

Vulnerability of man-made infrastructure to Earth-directed space weather events is a serious concern for today's technology-dependent society. Space weather-driven geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) can disrupt operation of extended electrically conducting technological systems. The threat of adverse impacts on critical technological infrastructure, like power grids, oil and gas pipelines, and communication networks, has sparked renewed interest in extreme space weather. Because extreme space weather events have low occurrence rate but potentially high impact, this presents a major challenge for our understanding of extreme GIC activity. In this chapter, we discuss some of the key science challenges pertaining to our understanding of extreme events. In addition, we present an overview of GICs including highlights of severe impacts over the last 80 years and recent U.S. Federal actions relevant to this community

Space Weather and Rail: Findings and Outlook

Space weather caused by solar activity can disrupt and damage critical infrastructures in space and on the ground. Space-weather impacts to the power grid, aviation, communication, and navigation systems have already been documented. Since society relies increasingly on the services these critical infrastructures provide, awareness of the space weather threat needs to be increased and the associated risks assessed. While most research on impacts of space weather focuses on the power grid, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and aviation, railway networks are also a potential area for concern. Anomalies in signalling systems have been observed during geomagnetic storms, and rail transport depends on power, communications, and progressively on GNSS for timing and positioning. In order to raise awareness of this topic, and to further explore the vulnerability of rail systems to space weather, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the UK Department for Transport, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly organised the “Space weather and rail” workshop in London on 16-17 September 2015. The workshop was attended by representatives from the railway sector, insurance, European and North American government agencies, academia, and the European Commission. This report presents the main findings and conclusions of this workshop.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

Geomagnetically induced currents: science, engineering, and applications readiness

This paper is the primary deliverable of the very first NASA Living With a Star Institute Working Group, Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC) Working Group. The paper provides a broad overview of the current status and future challenges pertaining to the science, engineering, and applications of the GIC problem. Science is understood here as the basic space and Earth sciences research that allows improved understanding and physics-based modeling of the physical processes behind GIC. Engineering, in turn, is understood here as the “impact” aspect of GIC. Applications are understood as the models, tools, and activities that can provide actionable information to entities such as power systems operators for mitigating the effects of GIC and government agencies for managing any potential consequences from GIC impact to critical infrastructure. Applications can be considered the ultimate goal of our GIC work. In assessing the status of the field, we quantify the readiness of various applications in the mitigation context. We use the Applications Readiness Level (ARL) concept to carry out the quantification

Performance Improvement of Wide-Area-Monitoring-System (WAMS) and Applications Development

Wide area monitoring system (WAMS), as an application of situation awareness, provides essential information for power system monitoring, planning, operation, and control. To fully utilize WAMS in smart grid, it is important to investigate and improve its performance, and develop advanced applications based on the data from WAMS. In this dissertation, the work on improving the WAMS performance and developing advanced applications are introduced.To improve the performance of WAMS, the work includes investigation of the impacts of measurement error and the requirements of system based on WAMS, and the solutions. PMU is one of the main sensors for WAMS. The phasor and frequency estimation algorithms implemented highly influence the performance of PMUs, and therefore the WAMS. The algorithms of PMUs are reviewed in Chapter 2. To understand how the errors impact WAMS application, different applications are investigated in Chapter 3, and their requirements of accuracy are given. In chapter 4, the error model of PMUs are developed, regarding different parameters of input signals and PMU operation conditions. The factors influence of accuracy of PMUs are analyzed in Chapter 5, including both internal and external error sources. Specifically, the impacts of increase renewables are analyzed. Based on the analysis above, a novel PMU is developed in Chapter 6, including algorithm and realization. This PMU is able to provide high accurate and fast responding measurements during both steady and dynamic state. It is potential to improve the performance of WAMS. To improve the interoperability, the C37.118.2 based data communication protocol is curtailed and realized for single-phase distribution-level PMUs, which are presented in Chapter 7.WAMS-based applications are developed and introduced in Chapter 8-10. The first application is to use the spatial and temporal characterization of power system frequency for data authentication, location estimation and the detection of cyber-attack. The second application is to detect the GPS attack on the synchronized time interval. The third application is to detect the geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) resulted from GMD and EMP-E3. These applications, benefited from the novel PMU proposed in Chapter 6, can be used to enhance the security and robust of power system

HelsinkiNet - a collaborative seismological research network of the Institute of Seismology, and the City of Helsinki

Non peer reviewe

HelsinkiNet - a collaborative seismological research network of the Institute of Seismology, and the City of Helsinki

Non peer reviewe