Integration of geomagnetic disturbance modeling into the power flow: A methodology for large-scale system studies

This paper presents a methodology for integrated power flow modeling of the impact of geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) on power system voltage stability. GMDs cause quasi-dc, geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in the transformers and transmission lines, which in turn cause saturation of the high voltage transformers, greatly increasing their reactive power consumption. GICs can be calculated using standard power flow modeling parameters such as line resistance, augmented with several GIC specific fields including substation geographic coordinates and grounding resistance, transformer configuration, and transformer coil winding resistances. When exact values are not available, estimated quantities can be used. By then integrating GIC into power flow analysis, the changes in reactive power losses and bus voltages can be quantified to assess the risk of voltage instability and large-scale voltage collapse. An example calculation is provided for a North American Eastern Interconnect model.