Alternative currents
Question: I have read that intense solar plasma storms can disrupt
electricity supplies, but that advance warning of these could help the
suppliers. What happens to the supply, and why, and what could suppliers do to
avoid the problems? (continued)
Answer: Here is a short reminder of what happened on 13 March 1989 on the
Hydro-Quebec grid in Canada. A major solar flare caused a surge in magnetometer
readings on 12 March and the Geological Survey of Canada sent a warning to the
electric utilities.
Hydro-Quebec’s most vulnerable lines were supposed to be east-west lines from
Churchill Fall…
