Establishing the Geomagnetic Disturbance Benchmark Event for Evaluation of the Space Weather Hazard on Power Grids

Abstract:

The awareness about potential major impact geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) can have on the North American high-voltage power transmission system has prompted Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to launch a geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) standards drafting process. The goals of the GMD standards are to quantify and mitigate the GMD hazard on the North American grid. North American Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) is coordinating the standards drafting process that is now entering Phase II involving quantification of the impact GIC can have on individual parts of the North American grid.

As a part of the Phase II GMD standards drafting process, substantial effort has been made for generating benchmark GMD scenarios. These scenarios that quantify extreme geoelectric field magnitudes and temporal waveforms of the field fluctuations are the foundation for subsequent engineering and impacts analyses. The engineering analyses will include the transmission system voltage stability and transformer heating assessments. The work on the GMD scenarios has been a major collaboration between a number of international entities involved in GMD research and transmission system operations. We will discuss in this paper the key elements of the benchmark GMD generation process and show the latest results from our work on the topic.