Properties of Geomagnetic Disturbances and How they Might Affect Power Systems: An Analysis of Past Geomagnetic Disturbances

Geomagnetic disturbances have been linked to power system damages in the past and its probable they’ll continue to cause disturbances in the future. While geomagnetic disturbances have the potential to cause power system complications, it isn’t clear what attributes of geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) are most impactful to power systems. This paper identifies some of the pertinent characteristics of GMDs and their relation to power systems. Analysis of past storms has made evident some common identifiers of what composes a severe, impactful GMD. Identifying characteristics of storms that can potentially cause damage to power systems will be useful for creating synthetic GMD waveforms, which can be tested using grid models in simulators such as PowerWorld or Seimens PSSE. Thorough and exhaustive testing of grids using synthetic GMDs will allow power engineers to ensure their grid’s resilience to large scale GMD occurrences.