Project members from around New Zealand travelled to New Plymouth recently to meet with Firstgas. As part of the Solar Tsunami Endeavour Fund, research is being undertaken to help Firstgas understand what risks are posed to gas pipelines by GIC. Unlike power transmission lines, gas pipelines are not at risk of sudden catastrophic damage due to GIC, however there is some evidence that solar storms can cause corrosion over time. Firstgas have allowed the Solar Tsunamis team to help them discover the magnitude of the threat, and the visit to Firstgas headquarters gave the pipeline research team to talk to on the ground staff about the curent state of industry knowledge and what they hope to achieve by the end of the project.
Pictured above: Malcolm Ingham (VUW, right), and Ted Bertram (GNS, left) talk to Steve from Firstgas’ cathodic protection team (centre).
