Full-wave electromagnetic analysis of lightning strikes to wind farm connected to medium-voltage distribution lines

Abstract

This paper studies the voltages developed on a wind turbine (WT) and a medium-voltage distribution line (MVDL) connected to a wind farm subjected to lightning strikes and located on frequency-dependent (FD) soils. The ground potential rise (GPR), voltages at the blade tip and on phase conductors of the MVDL are calculated using the full-wave electromagnetic software XGSLab® employing the rigorous Partial Element Equivalent Circuit (PEEC) method. The wind farm comprises four wind turbines with interconnected grounding systems using cables buried in resistivity soils of 1,000 and 5,000 Ω m. The voltages are computed for the first positive impulse (FPI) of 100-kA 10/350μs and for the subsequent negative impulse (SNI) of 50-kA, 1/200μs. Results have shown that voltage peaks increase notably as the soil resistivity increases. When the WTs are assumed, oscillations in the GPR waveforms for the SNI occur due to the multiple reflections between the blade and the turbine’s base. However, the voltages for the FPI present smooth time-domain responses. Furthermore, the overvoltages developed at the MVDL are significantly dependent on the soil resistivity and lightning current waveform.