[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-85434-en":3,"doc-seo-85434-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},85434,687197100911,"Himbo","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/a000239b6f1da00475?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1782698725881665579",8,"Research & Report","Assessing the Economic Benefits of Space Weather Mitigation Investment Decisions: Evidence from Aotearoa New Zealand","Space weather events pose an escalating threat to modern economies, while their macroeconomic effects remain insufficiently quantified. This study delivers the first dedicated economic assessment of geomagnetic storm impacts on Aotearoa New Zealand, estimating potential GDP losses under seven conservative disruption and mitigation scenarios from an extreme coronal mass ejection (CME). Impacts are driven primarily by geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) damaging the electricity transmission network. Four estimation approaches address uncertainty in outage-to-economic translation, showing severe unmitigated losses up to NZ$3.58 billion (0.98% of annual GDP). Targeted scenarios still reach NZ$1.48 billion (0.41%). Mitigation yields high benefit-cost ratios, with operational strategies up to 330:1 and physical protections up to 34.4:1, even more compelling when unmodeled capital and long-term revenue losses are considered.","Assessing the economic benefits of space weather mitigation investment decisions:  \nEvidence from Aotearoa New Zealand  \nEdward J. Oughton 1*, Andrew Renton2, Daniel H. Mac Marnus3, Dennies Bor1, Craig J. Rodger3 1Geography and Geoinformation Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA. 2Transpower New Zealand Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand. 3Department of Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand *Corresponding author ([eoughton@gmu.edu](eoughton@gmu.edu))  \nAbstract  \nSpace weather events pose a growing threat to modern economies, yet their macroeconomic consequences remain underexplored. This study presents the first dedicated economic assessment of geomagnetic storm impacts on Aotearoa New Zealand, quantifying potential gross domestic product (GDP) losses across seven conservative disruption and mitigation scenarios due to an extreme coronal mass ejection (CME) . The primary focus is on the damaging impacts of geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) on the electrical power transmission network. We support space weather mitigation investment decisions by providing a first-order approximation of their potential economic benefits, using best-in-class scientific models, via a coupled physics-engineering-economic spatial modelling framework. Recognising uncertainty in the economic interpretation of power outage impacts, we compare four different estimation methods. In the most severe unmitigated scenario, estimated GDP losses reach NZ$3.58 billion (0.98% of annual GDP) . Targeted GIC-informed scenarios still produce material losses, with no mitigation reaching up to NZ$1.48 billion (0.41% of annual GDP) . Mitigation substantially reduces these impacts. Operational strategies, including optimized switching and islanding, achieve benefit-cost ratios as high as 330 to 1, while physical protections such as GIC blocking devices produce returns up to 34.4 to 1. When also acknowledging additional unmodelled impacts, including multi-billion losses in capital equipment and long-term revenue, the economic rationale for pre-emptive mitigation becomes even more pertinent.  \nPlain language summary  \nSpace weather events can disrupt electricity systems and cause widespread economic damage. Despite this risk, their broader economic impacts have not been well studied. This research provides the first evaluation of how an extreme solar storm could affect New Zealand’s economy by estimating how power disruptions could reduce economic activity under several realistic scenarios. A severe but plausible solar storm without mitigation could cause up to NZ$3.58 billion in lost economic activity, equivalent to almost 1% of New Zealand’s annual economy. Targeted exposure scenarios could still lead to losses of up to NZ$1.48 billion. Importantly, relatively inexpensive mitigation measures can deliver large economic benefits. For example, operational strategies such as grid switching and temporarily separating parts of the network provide strong benefits, with up to NZ$330 in avoided economic losses for every NZ$1 invested. Physical protections, like devices that block harmful currents, also offer strong returns on investment.  \nKey points  \n• A plausible no-mitigation solar storm could cost NZ$0.74-3 .58 billion in lost GDP (0.2-0.98% of annual GDP) .  \n• Mitigation measures achieve benefit-cost ratios as high as 330 to 1.  \n• Investment in space weather mitigation is highly cost-effective.  \nKey words  \nSpace weather, power grids, mitigation, cost-benefit analysis.  \n1.  Introduction  \nSpace weather refers to a variety of solar-driven phenomena, including coronal mass ejections (CMEs), solar flares, and solar particle events, which can disturb Earth’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere (Hapgood et al., 2021; Buzulukova and Tsurutani, 2022) . An extreme CME can induce geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in extra high voltage (EHV) electricity transmission networks (>200 kV), posing a risk to the stability of the grid. Importantly","cbCaignh982At43b","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaignh982At43b","pdf",4098476,1,32,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Space weather and geomagnetic risk\n## Benchmark events and economic loss framing","[{\"question\":\"What is the document’s main economic question about space weather?\",\"answer\":\"It asks how geomagnetic storm impacts translate into economic losses for Aotearoa New Zealand, and how mitigation investments can reduce those losses.\"},{\"question\":\"Which infrastructure is highlighted as the primary impact pathway?\",\"answer\":\"The focus is on how geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) damage the electrical power transmission network.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the results say about losses without mitigation and with mitigation?\",\"answer\":\"In the most severe unmitigated scenario, estimated GDP losses reach NZ$3.58 billion (0.98% of annual GDP). Mitigation substantially reduces impacts, with benefit-cost ratios up to 330:1 for operational strategies and up to 34.4:1 for physical protections.\"}]",1784203484,81,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":27},"assessing-the-economic-benefits-of-space-weather-mitigation-investment-decisions-evidence-from-aotearoa-new-zealand","",{"@graph":35,"@context":85},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/assessing-the-economic-benefits-of-space-weather-mitigation-investment-decisions-evidence-from-aotearoa-new-zealand/85434/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-21","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the document’s main economic question about space weather?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It asks how geomagnetic storm impacts translate into economic losses for Aotearoa New Zealand, and how mitigation investments can reduce those losses.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Which infrastructure is highlighted as the primary impact pathway?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"The focus is on how geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) damage the electrical power transmission network.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What do the results say about losses without mitigation and with mitigation?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"In the most severe unmitigated scenario, estimated GDP losses reach NZ$3.58 billion (0.98% of annual GDP). 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