Geomagnetic Disturbance Characterization in the Hydro Québec Power Grid using AUTUMN and AUTUMNX

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The Sun subjects the Earth to buffeting from the solar wind, producing stormy conditions that are signaled by auroras. In addition to light, these space storms produce magnetic changes for which electric power systems are excellent "antennas", generating currents. The power grid is finely balanced, and these extra currents affect its efficiency and can also cause damage. The Hydro Québec power grid is vulnerable to these effects due in part to being in the northern parts of the province where auroras are common, and in part due to the nature of the underlying rock of the Canadian Shield. The great length of its power transmission lines also makes it more efficient as an "aurora antenna" picking up undesired effects. Recently, Athabasca University's AUTUMNX network was put in place to measure the magnetic field at ten places in Québec with high precision. Changes in the magnetic field are equivalent to application of an electric field, and are a major cause of the extra "geomagnetically induced" currents in the power grid. AUTUMNX is thus an ideal tool with which to understand how the Hydro Québec grid is affected by the currents accompanying auroras and other space phenomena near Earth. As a control case, the AUTUMN array, which has existed in Western Canada for over ten years, provides magnetic field data from similar instruments but over a very different rock type. We will thus be able to characterize magnetic effects in two differing regions, and in Québec see what the direct effects measured in the power grid are. This greater understanding of causes of the disturbances measured in the grid will permit improvements in operating procedures, and improve the efficiency and reliability of the major power producer of northeastern North America.