The influence of geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) on transmission systems

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 UTC 1990 · Proceedings of the American Power Conference; (United States)

OSTI ID:6174218

Albertson, V ^[1]; Kappenman, J ^[2]; Damsky, B ^[3]

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1. Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis, MN (United States)
2. Minnesota Power and Light Co., Duluth, MN (United States)
3. Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)

Charged particles emitted by the sun from flares or similar phenomena can enter the magnetic field of the earth and induce large currents within the earth. These currents follow a circular path around the magnetic poles and are large enough to produce earth surface potentials up to 10 volts per mile. Such currents have been known to last for many minutes, effectively a dc mode which can saturate power or current transformers. Factors known to influence susceptibility to the phenomenon include grounding philosophy, transformer core construction, transmission line length and orientation, and local geology. In this paper plans for a mitigation scheme and a warning network are explained.

• OSTI ID: 6174218
• Report Number(s): CONF-9004133--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Proceedings of the American Power Conference; (United States) Journal Volume: 52
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
240100 -- Power Systems-- (1990-)
240300 -- Power Transmission Lines & Cables-- (1990-)
240500* -- Power Transmission & Distribution-- Environmental Aspects-- (1990-)
DESIGN
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
EQUIPMENT
GEOLOGY
GEOMAGNETIC FIELD
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLANNING
POWER SYSTEMS
POWER TRANSMISSION LINES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR FLARES
TRANSFORMERS