Oregon State research on electrical mapping aids U.S. power grid protection amid geomagnetic storms

OSU Researchers completed an electrical mapping project that helps protect the U.S. power grid.

Adam Schultz, a Professor of Geophysics at OSU and a lead researcher on the electrical mapping project, says the difference about this project is that the data has been made public immediately.

When the project began in 2006, researchers deployed instruments across the continental U.S. every 70 kilometers to survey the energy below the surface. Large equipment was moved to stations for several months to capture data.

The original goal of the project was to determine the structure and evolution of the North American continent. The original goal was achieved but over time there was a new opportunity that presented itself.

"It became obvious that the data we were collecting was actually very important to the electric power industry because what happens is, for example, recently we had a big aurora in May that you could see in Oregon and actually this past week as well," said Schultz.

Space weather impacts such as the geomagnetic storms we’ve seen recently can put the grid under stress and it was not intended to handle it.

Shultz explains in extreme cases this can cause parts of the power grid to go down. The last time they saw this was back in 1989 which did impact the providence of Quebec and northern states in the U.S.

"The data will help the power industry determine the intensity of the geomagnetic storms we have recently encountered with the Aurora Borealis. So this is a big issue and our data will help the power industry determine the intensity of the geomagnetic induced currents that they can expect," Schultz said.

Schultz adds Homeland Security found impacts on critical infrastructure.

https://katu.com/news/local/osu-research-on-electrical-mapping-aids-us-power-grid-protection-adam-schultz-oregon-state-university-professor

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News post in at: August 15, 2024, 3:03 am.

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