Study of the Lightning Impact on the Wind-Turbine

Dib, Djalel; Abdallah, Guebla; Labar, Hocine

doi:10.3844/erjsp.2014.17.25

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The probability of lightning strikes is higher, especially in large-scale systems with large PV arrays [10] and wind turbines (WTs) with higher structures [11,12]. A generated induced overvoltage during a lightning strike can damage the equipment in hybrid RE systems, such as PV modules, converters, inverters, generators, transformers, control systems [13,14], meters, and data networks, which include sensors and transducers, or decrease PV system efficiency by affecting the IeV and PeV characteristics of the module [15]. Replacing damaged components due to lightning can significantly increase these systems' installation and maintenance costs and can have indirect environmental consequences if a damaged system takes time to repair or replace.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation of Lightning-Induced Transient Effects on a Hybrid Photovoltaic–Wind System Based on Lightning Protection Standards

et al. 2023

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Installing surge protection devices in a hybrid photovoltaic (PV)–wind system is essential to guarantee the survival of the system’s components. If the surge arresters are connected without taking into account the recommendations given by standards, the equipment to be protected might be damaged despite the energy coordination of the arresters. In this study, nonlinear surge protective devices (SPDs) are designed for a multi-MW hybrid system based on lightning protection standards with optimised threat level ratings to investigate the mitigation of lightning transients to an acceptable level. The system is implemented using Power System Computer-Aided Design for Electromagnetic Transients including Direct Current (PSCAD/EMTDC) software. It comprises a 2 MW PV farm, a 2 MW wind farm, and a backup energy storage system (ESS), which are all connected to a 132 kV grid via a step-up transformer and a transmission line. The results were obtained at critical system nodes for two standard lightning current surges, i.e., 1/10 µs and 10/350 µs, considering two lightning strike point scenarios with and without a lightning protection system (LPS). The simulation results showed that the connected SPDs could successfully limit the transient overvoltage in the system to an acceptable level. The analysis in this work is crucial for designing, operating, and maintaining a hybrid PV–wind system. It can help to find the potential vulnerability areas within such a system and implement appropriate protection measures since there is no available lightning standard for such systems. Additionally, it assists the system operators in increasing the uptime and dependability of their RE systems, limiting expensive downtime and environmental effects while optimising energy output. Based on the results obtained, recommendations were made for lightning protection developers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation of Lightning-Induced Transient Effects on a Hybrid Photovoltaic–Wind System Based on Lightning Protection Standards

et al. 2023

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“…The impact of lightning strikes, lightning damages and direct and indirect effects of lightning currents on WTGs are discussed in [48], [49]. Damages to WTGs by lightning is currently one of the main sources of WTG insurance claims and downtime [48].…”

Section: Incidence Of Lightning Strikes On Wind Turbinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Analysis of Earthing System for Wind Turbine Generators from Lightning Discharge Currents

Deshagoni¹

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<p>Currently, wind power production is undergoing rapid growth due to the escalating interest in green energy generation. As a result, generators are now choosing to locate wind turbine generators (WTGs) in areas where there is more lightning activity, and earthing problems can be exacerbated further by the soil resistivity being higher than where turbines are usually located. In addition, the desire to capture more energy from the wind has given way to larger WTGs, further increasing the probability of lightning strikes to the structure. This heightened regularity has emphasized the need for an effective grounding system, capable of dissipating the large currents discharged by the lightning into the lightning protection system. This “effective grounding system” must offer a low impedance by limiting the ground potential rise, which is critical due to the wider frequency content of the lightning discharge currents (ranging from DC to several MHz). The design of an effective grounding system for WTGs depends on the calculation of the minimum length of the earth electrodes, soil resistivity and its frequency-dependency, and the impact of WTG foundation. The calculation of the length of earth electrodes needs an accurate measurement of soil resistivity and modeling of the measured resistivity. Hence, this research considers the measured soil resistivity values of an Australian wind farm and presents an analysis of the soil stratification to identify the optimum soil models. The influence of the soil layers on the WTG grounding system is also investigated to install the earth electrodes. As the resistivity of the soil is frequency-dependent, an analysis is performed to evaluate the effect of the frequency-dependent soil parameters on the WTG grounding system at various frequencies of lightning discharge current. In addition, the impact of the rebar of the WTG foundation on the grounding system is evaluated as the rebar shares the lightning discharge currents. The effective length of the earth electrodes is frequency-dependent, and rebar determines the impedance of the grounding system at high-frequencies. The next step in the grounding design is the design of earth electrodes. The current dissipating capacity of the earth electrodes depends on soil resistivity, dimensions of the earth electrodes, and burial depth of the electrodes. However, the traditional practice of designing earth electrodes is based on the soil resistivity alone, considering the uniform soil resistivity model. The conventional method of designing earth electrodes based on the uniform soil resistivity is not practical due to non-homogeneous behavior of the soil resistivity. To enhance the WTG earthing system design, this research proposes a novel method to calculate the minimum length of an earth electrode for uniform and two-layer based soil models considering electrode dimensions and burial depth. The grounding impedance achieved when electrode lengths are calculated using the proposed method is compared to grounding impedance values computed using the conventional method. This comparison shows that the proposed method is an improvement on the current convention. In particular, the proposed method gives a grounding impedance value of less than 10 Ω at low frequencies for all soil resistivity values. This results in a reduction in the potential rise of up to 64% compared to the peak potential value in the conventional method. The benefits offered by the proposed method mean that it can be employed to calculate electrode lengths for the required resistance values based on soil resistivity, electrode dimensions, and burial depth. Such a design may serve as a starting point for an engineer wishing to design a WTG earthing system. Another challenge noted is the practice of assessing the effectiveness of the WTG grounding system. The conventional method is based on achieving a low-frequency resistance of 10 Ω according to the standard IEC 61400-24 and the performance of the grounding system at high frequencies is not considered. Hence, identification of the high-frequency components of the relevant lightning discharge currents is important to understand the performance of the grounding system. An analysis of the wind turbine earthing system for different lightning discharge current wave shapes is performed considering the lightning current waveforms and parameters mentioned in the IEC 61400-24 standard and evaluated the various frequency components and their influence on the WTG grounding system. It is identified that the impedance of the grounding system is minimum for the first short positive stroke current parameters for all the soil resistivity values compared to the first short negative and the subsequent short current wave shapes, although the peak current magnitude is highest for this wave shape. From the analysis of WTG grounding system based on various parameters, this research presents a procedure for assessing the effectiveness of WTG lightning protection system with a focus on the grounding system. It is identified that the effectiveness of the grounding system can be improved by proper design of earth electrodes, optimum soil stratification, and selecting low resistivity soil sites. Finally, various earth electrode configurations are evaluated to identify the better electrode configuration for WTG grounding system. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of WTG grounding systems to protect WTGs from lightning strikes. The contributions of this research will help wind farm architects to design effective grounding systems leading to effective lightning protection systems. Finally, the contributions will help to increase the adoption of wind power, resulting in more renewable energy generation. The outcome of this research can be realized to reduce the downtime of WTGs by incorporating the effectiveness of lightning protection system component into the wind farm optimization process. Also, a generalized procedure for calculating the minimum length of earth electrodes for all the soil models can be developed in the future.</p>

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Transient modeling of the wind farms in order to analysis the lightning related overvoltages

2019

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Study of the Lightning Impact on the Wind-Turbine

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

Mitigation of Lightning-Induced Transient Effects on a Hybrid Photovoltaic–Wind System Based on Lightning Protection Standards

Mitigation of Lightning-Induced Transient Effects on a Hybrid Photovoltaic–Wind System Based on Lightning Protection Standards

Design and Analysis of Earthing System for Wind Turbine Generators from Lightning Discharge Currents

Transient modeling of the wind farms in order to analysis the lightning related overvoltages

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