Fundamentals about the flow of geomagnetically induced currents in a power system applicable to estimating space weather risks and designing remedies

Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) in technological systems, like electric power transmission grids, at the Earth's surface are caused by space weather processes, whose origin is in the Sun. In power systems, transformers may be saturated due to GIC leading to different problems extending from an increase of harmonics to a blackout of the system and damage of transformers. To design reasonable measures against impending problems, GIC magnitudes in the network should be estimated in different circumstances. This paper tackles basic features of GIC flow in a fictitious five-transformer/four-line power system, which is simple enough to make the equations easily manageable but complex enough to yield real and usable information. It is shown that the direction of the geoelectric field affects GIC at different sites but the dependence is not straightforward since GIC produced in one part of the system flows to others. Generally, transmission lines experience much larger GIC than transformers. Series capacitors in transmission lines prevent the flow of dc-like GIC but, without a careful analysis, their installation may result in larger GIC at some transformers of the system thus increasing the risk of problems.