IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 71

The measures taken by Hydro-Québec will allow the
population of Québec to enjoy future auroras with
all the comforts provided by reliable electrical service.
✔ reducing the transit on interconnections to about

40-80% of their rated capacity
✔ increasing the reactive power reserve
✔ ensuring fast voltage control.
The strategy then requires the reduction of transfer limits based
on the power system topology and the number of sVcs available to preserve a secure margin. This margin can be more or
less significant depending on the actual system configuration.
The operating strategies have been used on numerous
occasions over the years, and an annual review is performed.

Planning for the Future
Following the 1989 blackout, a large amount of analysis and
many studies have been performed and new equipment and
control schemes have been installed to enhance the reliability
of the hydro-Québec power system. since 1989, the robustness
of the system during severe geomagnetic storms has been well
proven. however, even more than 25 years later, the problem
of geomagnetic storms is still at the forefront of power system
planning and operation. challenges still exist for the power
industry, as illustrated by the recent activity of north american
regulatory bodies, namely the north american electric reliability corporation and the Federal energy regulatory commission. Thus, geomagnetic storm conditions remain a cause
for concern in a modern, digital society increasingly dependent
on a reliable supply of electricity.
To prepare for future events, hydro-Québec has developed
and maintained a strong expertise in the simulation of geomagnetic disturbances. The earliest simulations in the 1990s
started with the acceleration of the saturation time of the power
transformers in the presence of dc. Today, a full digital simulation of the hydro-Québec system, including saturation, is
possible in fewer than 15 min. These studies take into consideration full electrical phenomena with simultaneous ac and dc
solutions (dc voltage sources and dc (Gic), transformer saturation, harmonics, and voltage stability). Thus, hydro-Québec can
study all aspects of geomagnetic disturbances and the goal is
to efficiently integrate dc (Gic) effects and the resulting reactive power impact into the regular system stability studies performed by grid planning personnel.
The measures taken by hydro-Québec will allow the
population of Québec to enjoy future auroras with all the
comforts provided by reliable electrical service.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to sincerely thank mario spezza of
hydro-Québec for graciously providing the various figures
november/december 2016

concerning the hydro-Québec system and the magnetosphere
and electrojet figures. his generous availability and skilled
work are greatly appreciated. The authors would also like to
thank kyle reiter and prof. martin connors from university
of athabasca, alberta, and ashton reimer and prof. kathryn
mcwilliams from university of saskatchewan for providing
the aurora images.

Further Reading
c. buckie, "skywatchers awed by nature's light show," Montreal Gazette, p. a3, mar. 14, 1989.
north american electric reliability corporation (nerc)
disturbance analysis working report (1990, aug.). march
13, 1989 geomagnetic disturbance. [online]. available:
http://www.nerc.com/files/1989-Quebec-disturbance.pdf
north american reliability corporation (nerc) Geomagnetic disturbance Task Force. (2012, Feb). 2012 special
reliability assessment interim report: effects of geomagnetic
disturbances on the bulk power system. [online]. available:
http://www.nerc.com/files/2012Gmd.pdf
L. bolduc, "Gic observations and studies in the hydroQuébec power system," J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., vol. 64, no. 16,
pp. 1793-1802, nov. 2002.
d. Larose, "The hydro-Québec system blackout of
march 13, 1989," in Proc. IEEE PES Summer Meeting Special Panel Session, 1989, pp. 10-13.
J. béland and k. small, "space weather effects on power transmission systems: The cases of hydro-Québec and
Transpower new Zealand Ltd," in Effects of Space Weather
on Technology Infrastructure, i. a. daglis, ed. norwell,
ma: kluwer, 2004, pp. 287-299.
r. pirjola. (2012). space weather effects on power grids,
in Space Science, h. J. m. cuesta, ed. inTech open science
publishing [online]. available: http://www.intechopen.com/
books/space-science
m. moldwin, An Introduction to Space Weather. cambridge, u.k.: cambridge univ. press, 2008.

Biographies
Sebastien Guillon is with hydro-Québec, montreal, Québec, canada.
Patrick Toner is with hydro-Québec, montreal, Québec,
canada.
Louis Gibson is with hydro-Québec, montreal, Québec,
canada.
David Boteler is with natural resources canada,
p&e
ottawa, ontario, canada.
ieee power & energy magazine

http://www.nerc.com/files/1989-Quebec-disturbance.pdf http://www.nerc.com/files/2012Gmd.pdf http://www.intechopen.com/

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