Power grids and pipeline networks at all latitudes are known to be at risk from the natural
hazard of geomagnetically induced currents. At a recent workshop in South Africa, UK and
South African scientists and engineers discussed the current understanding of this hazard,
as it affects major power systems in Europe and Africa. They also summarised, to better
inform the public and industry, what can be said with some certainty about the hazard and
what research is yet required to develop useful tools for geomagnetic hazard mitigation.

Solar activity gives rise to changes in the near-Earth space environment, often referred to as
space weather, that can adversely affect technologies on and above the surface of the Earth.
For example, the impact of a coronal mass ejection on the Earth's protective magnetosphere
can lead to a geomagnetic storm, boosting existing magnetospheric currents. These current
systems cause large magnetic variations that induce electric fields in the solid Earth. These
fields, in turn, generate geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) that flow in conducting …