EE296

Selected Research
Paper Presentation
Electromagnetic Transient
Simulation of Lightning
Overvoltage in a Wind
Farm
By: Thuan Q. Nguyen, Thinh Pham, Top V. Tran
2013 Electrical Insulation Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2 to 5 June 2013
Abstract
• Investigates the effects of lightning current parameters and lightning location in a wind farm
from Vietnam

• deals with the simulation of lightning overvoltage of wind turbines by using EMTP/ATP
(Electromagnetic Transients Program)

• suggests a practical approach in designing a lightning protection system

Introduction
Wind Turbines
• Are very tall structures (average is about 100m)

• placed in locations that are very windy and prone to lightning events
• In tropical countries like Vietnam, frequency of lightning occurrence is very high
• Wind turbine faults due to lightning is a big problem
Sources of lightning induced failure for WT
• Direct hit to blade or tower

• Ground potential rise due to direct stroke

• Lightning surge coming from distribution line to wind turbine
Lightning protection and insulation coordination factors
• Lightning current parameters

• Electrical configuration
• Geometric configuration
Wind Turbines Under
Consideration
Wind Farm and EMTP
Models
A. Wind Turbine Structure

Blade Surge Impedance

where LB and rB are the length and the radius of the blades respectively.
 Steel Tower Surge Impedance

where H and r are the length and the radius of the towers respectively.
B. Transformers
• Boost Transformers (660V/22kV, 2MVA)

• Installed in the back room of the nacelle of the WT

• A simplified transformer model for capacitance surge transfer is used
C. Ground System
• In this work, as a moderate lightning current is considered (30 kA), thus the steady state value
of resistance (total value of 5Ω, 10 Ω at each grounding point) is a reasonable
approximation.
D. Medium voltage cable and distribution overhead line
• A frequency dependent Bergeron model of three phases is used to simulate the medium
voltage cables and J-Marti of four phases (three phases +1 shielding wire) for overhead
distribution line.
E. Lightning Current
• The positive lightning stroke is modeled by a
current source which produces the lightning
current waveform through a parallel resistance
of 400 Ω (to form a voltage source) which
simulates the lightning path impedance.
• A Heidler waveform with the time to half current
of 50 µs is used throughout this study
F. Surge arrester
• Surge arresters are installed in the high voltage (HV) side (22kV) of the boost transformers

• The sure arresters are simply modeled by the non linear resistance (type 92) available in EMTP
Results and Discussions
Initial Tests
• A typical upward-initiated lightning current (but positive value) with an amplitude of 30kA,
1.2/50 μs waveform [3] is assumed to strike on the tip of the rotor blade of the wind turbine
101 (WT 101)

• High current causes a “flow back surge”

• Creates a surge in HV side of the transformer
• Capacitance coupling of transformer also causes surge voltage of 35kV at LV of WT101
A. Effect of the rise time
• The simulation was carried out with three values of rise time of 30kA lightning current: 1.2 μs;
5μs and 10 μs

• The shorter the rise time, the higher the surge voltage at HV and LV sides of the transformer is
B. Effect of striking position
• The flash point is changed from the nearest turbine to the grid (WT 101) to the furthest one
(WT 105) to investigate the effect of the neighbor structures to the surge voltages at stricken
WT (For lightning current of 30kA crest, 1.2/50μs waveform).

• Current reflections from the grid cause higher voltage surges in the WT nearest to the grid
(WT101, WT102)
• Lower arrester classes can be used for WT farther away from the grid due to the lower
discharge current in these WT positions
Conclusions
• Lightning to the blade of the WTs creates a “back flow”
• High surge voltage appeared at LV side, which is not equipped with surge arresters, is likely
to lead to flashover of the components

• The rise time of lightning current is one of the main parameters to select an appropriate
protection measure for the WT
• The duty class of arresters installed for the further group can be lower than that for the closer
one