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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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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.
