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Summarised by Centrist
Transpower has declared a grid emergency and temporarily taken select South Island transmission lines out of service to protect equipment from a severe geomagnetic storm.
The operator says electricity supply to homes and businesses is not expected to be affected; the step is to prevent storm-induced currents from damaging transformers, substations, or hydro assets.
Geomagnetic storms, triggered by coronal mass ejections from the Sun, can drive unwanted electrical currents through power networks.
The University of Otago’s Aurora Australis Alert rates aurora visibility as high across southern New Zealand if skies clear, though cloud is forecast for Dunedin.
