China's power grid is not vulnerable to severe solar storm damage

——Interview with Liu Lianguang, a professor and doctoral tutor of North China Electric Power University “Liang Bao”: Is it true that as American scientists say, solar flares will have an impact on the power supply system?

Liu Lianguang: To be precise, the term solar storm can be used. Because the solar wind formed by the solar activity event (CME for short) and the solar wind formed by the wormhole phenomenon reach the earth's space, a geomagnetic storm is generated on the surface of the earth. The geomagnetic storm produces a ground-induced potential on the surface, and thus the grounding point is high at the neutral point of the transformer. Geomagnetically induced currents are generated in voltage and long-distance transmission networks, and geomagnetically induced currents have a certain influence or harm on the normal operation of power system equipment.

Solar flares can cause turbulence in the ionosphere, which can affect short wave communications. If it is only a solar flare, it will not affect the safety of the power grid. The impact of solar activity on the grid is related to many factors and conditions.

"Living News": Has there been a solar storm affecting the grid in history? How is the impact of the solar storm on our country?

Liu Lianguang: A solar activity week is about 11 years. Strong magnetic storms occurred during the peak years of the last two solar weeks. They occurred on March 13, 1989 and October 30, 2003, respectively, resulting in a major power outage in Quebec, Canada and Sweden. There was a blackout in the city of Mozambique. The strongest solar storm in history occurred in 1859, but there was no problem with the grid at that time.

In Canada, Sweden, and other countries, it is easy to cause tripping accidents of transmission lines and transformers due to the effects of the solar storm. This is due to the fact that geomagnetic field disturbances in high-latitude regions of northern Europe and North America are stronger, and thus the impact is relatively greater.

Although China is vast in size and geographically spanning, slightly larger power grids are located in mid-latitude regions. Coupled with the first two solar weeks, China’s power grid is relatively small compared to Canada, the United States, and other countries. Therefore, China’s power grid Not vulnerable to severe damage from solar storms.

"Liang Bao": At present, what research has China done in this area, and are there any technical means to prevent or reduce the impact of solar storms on the grid?

Liu Lianguang: The development of society and the task of preventing extreme natural disasters are becoming more and more arduous. This is also the purpose of our study of disasters caused by magnetic storms. Over the past decade, with support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National 863 Program, we have recognized the potential impact of the solar storm on China’s power grid and achieved some results. Apart from theoretical research, we have obtained some 220 thousand Volt, 500 kV grid magnetic storm disturbance data, etc. It is not without technical means. It is technical means that are not well guarded against, including adding many prevention and control devices to the power grid, and may also bring new or greater security problems. This may be due to the fact that scientists from countries with serious problems affecting foreign countries frequently issue warnings. There are even some fears.

Recently, the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for Basic Research released by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China has raised the research of space disaster weather to a very high level. Our proposal for the power grid is to strengthen the monitoring of the magnetic storm interference in the grid as in high-latitude countries, and to obtain more and more widely measured data, and to accumulate and conduct research with the aid of measured data, including risk assessment and the attempt of power grid disasters and disasters. Forecast research.

If the grid effect of solar storms can be predicted and forecasted accurately, strategies such as controlling the overload of potentially overloaded lines and controlling the overload of transformers can prevent disasters. This is the most economical and effective preventive measure.

Now, many people at home and abroad who are concerned with the effects of solar storms are studying the issue of forecasting space disaster weather. We are also trying to do some research on forecasting parameters and indicators that are suitable for grid disaster prevention.

“Liangbao”: In recent years, solar activities have become more frequent. How can you reduce the impact of solar activity on the power supply system? What are your suggestions?

Liu Lianguang: It cannot be said that solar activity has become more and more frequent in recent years, and the sun is 4.5 billion years old. Since it has statistics and records, every solar week will have related events, and the change is not very great. It should be said that due to the development of the power grid, its own composition or structure makes the disturbance of magnetic storms a problem.

The super solar activity toward the earth is a small probability event. But nowadays, we are relying more and more on electricity. Therefore, we must attach great importance to and guard against the risk of blackouts. We must also attach great importance to the future of solar storms. The possibility of a larger security risk.

The impact of solar activity is a global problem. Due to the wide scope and large scale, unlike the prevention of snow and ice disasters, it is impossible to localize differential designs, technical measures are very difficult to prevent, and investment is also considerable. Therefore, it is important to improve awareness of preventing extreme disasters. For such new issues, relevant units and departments should strengthen scientific popularization work so that ordinary people can scientifically understand and understand the impact of solar activities.