A software simulator for Geomagnetically Induced Currents in electrical power systems

This paper describes the development and testing of a software simulator to calculate the flow of geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) in an electrical power transmission grid. In this paper, a new technique for mapping the location of transmission equipment for the purposes of GIC simulation is proposed. The DC modeling of autotransformers for the purpose GIC studies is discussed. The simulator models the electrical power system as an admittance matrix. GIC results for two study systems as obtained from the developed simulator are compared with those obtained from the electromagnetic transients program (EMTP). Finally, the simulator is applied to the entire Hydro One 500/230 kV transmission system to predict GICs. This simulation will help Hydro One plan its mitigation strategies to protect against geomagnetic storms.