Quantifying Swedish societal risks and security issues from space weather impacts on the power grid

This is a 3-year project which will quantify the societal risks and security issues associated with space weather impacts on the Swedish power grid.

The Sun occasionally releases large bursts of plasma towards Earth that enhance electrical currents in our ionosphere and drive large amplitude and rapid variations in the geomagnetic field at ground level.

Through geomagnetic induction with the ground, a geoelectric field causes unwanted and hazardous quasi-DC currents (GICs) to flow in large ground-based infrastructures, such as power lines.

Sweden has experienced multiple effects on the power grid due to GICs but the risks and security of the system are yet to be rigorously quantified.

GICs strongly depend on latitude, ground conductivity features, and the physical properties of the ground-based system, and as a result, risks are specific to individual countries. This project will help to prepare for extreme events and mitigate the socioeconomic impacts from GICs.

We will use ground-based recordings, spacecraft measurements, fully 3D geomagnetic induction solutions, and state-of-the-art models to understand the likelihood of extreme events and their impacts. We identify GIC hotspots, key drivers, and also the statistical likelihood of hazardous disturbances. Numerical modeling will also be used to construct the impacts from an idealized extreme event.

The project will help to prepare power grid operators for extreme GICs to minimize the risk to society.