Today: Friday, 13 September 2024 year

Several power lines have been knocked out in New Zealand.

Several power lines have been knocked out in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s state-owned electricity grid company Transpower said it had shut down a number of power lines across the country to prevent damage to equipment due to the powerful solar storm.

Transpower New Zealand Limited owns and operates the national electricity grid across New Zealand, consisting of 12,000 kilometers of transmission lines and more than 170 substations.

“As a precautionary measure, Transpower has shut down some power lines in both the North and South Islands as the G4 geomagnetic storm that struck Earth as a result of solar activity has been upgraded to the highest level of G5,” Transpower said in a statement.

To take some transmission lines out of service, Transpower has issued a series of grid emergency notices. At this stage, Transpower does not expect any negative impact on New Zealand’s electricity supply.

 


Coronal mass ejections are explosions of plasma from the Sun. When they reach the Earth they cause a geomagnetic storm. During a severe geomagnetic storm, a coronal mass ejection can interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, disrupting it and sending pulses of electrical current along power lines, which can damage equipment.