Sensitivity of DC Network Representation for GIC Analysis

Abstract

Geomagnetic disturbances are a threat to the reliability and security of our national critical energy infrastructures. These events specifically result in geomagnetically induced currents, which can cause damage to transformers due to magnetic saturation. In order to mitigate these effects, blocker devices must be placed in optimal locations. Finding this placement requires a dc representation of the ac transmission lines, which this paper discusses. Different decisions in this process, including the method of representing the blocking devices, result in significant variations to the power loss calculations. To analyze these effects, we conclude the paper by comparing the losses on a sample network with different modeling implementations.