Dynamic Response of Power Systems With Real GICs: Impact on Generator Excitation Control

Geomagneticallyinduced current (GIC) studies usually focus on transformer response to dc but seldom analyze generator excitation systems. A GIC is driven by an electric field which is induced by a very low-frequency geomagnetic field. It is widely acceptable to model GICs with dc, mostly suitable for static voltage stability analysis, but this does not adequately characterize a power system's dynamic response. Considering this, we studied a multi-machine power system on an OPAL-RT digital real-time simulator (DRTS)-MATLAB/Simulink system. We used real GIC measurement data from high and mid-latitude regions. Wavelet analysis related the frequency components of the GIC to the power system's response. A dynamic generator model with excitation voltage control modelled the source. Our main finding is that excitation system control contributes to reducing the voltage drop caused by increased var demand in saturated transformers with GICs. Measured GICs revealed non-negligible short-term dynamics affecting bus voltages that are not captured with dc-modelling assumptions, yet they are important for voltage stability analysis. This study implies that excitation control creates a buffer for high GICs to flow without violating the grid codes for minimum operating voltages and this paper demonstrates the optimization of this novel approach.