Lightning Incidence of Wind Farm Underground Power Cable Networks

Abstract

This paper presents a general procedure for the estimation of the lightning incidence of underground power cable networks, in this particular case, associated with modern wind farms. The modern wind farms are often comprised of several dozens of wind turbines mutually interconnected through an extended medium voltage underground power cable network It is unfortunate coincidence that these wind farms are often located in regions of increased lightning activity, which stems from the fact that regions with high wind potential often coincide with regions of increased thunderstorm activity. Furthermore, wind farm locations could additionally be accompanied with the high soil resistivity of the terrain, which would provide favorable conditions for the lightning-initiated damage of the associated wind farm cable networks. Hence, it is considered prudent to estimate the lightning incidence of the wind farm underground power cable networks and, if necessary, provide additional cable-damage mitigation techniques combined with the appropriate overvoltage protection measures.

Petar Sarajčev

Full Professor | Department of Power Grids and Substations

Ranko Goić

Full Professor | Department of Power Grids and Substations

Full professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Naval Architecture in Split exeperienced in transmission and distribution networks, renewable energy sources (RES), power system planing and economics