Lightning Protection for Wind Turbines

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Lightning strikes happen in a fraction of time, where they can transfer huge amounts of charge and high currents in a single strike. The chances for a structure to be struck by lightning increases as the height increases; thus, tall structures are more prone to lightning.

Lightning looks for the path of least resistance to ground. That tall metal tower with your wind turbine on top, at least 60 feet high, and sticking out at least 30 feet over everything else in a wide area around it may very well be that easiest path.

In the case of wind turbines, there are a few issues specific to their intrinsic properties and geometries such as blades, nacelle enclosures, electronics within the nacelle, and bearings. Damage to each of the components in question have different sensitivities of various modes of failure and can lead to different types of outages, such as:

  1. ·  Blades: lightning strikes can cause structural damage resulting in catastrophic failure and long-term outage.
  2. ·  Nacelle enclosure: electrical arcing and localized currents can cause physical damage.
  3. ·  Electronics within the nacelle: electronic components that form part of the lightning path to Earth can experience damaging currents; in addition, these systems can be damaged by induced electromagnetic fields cause by time-varying lightning currents.
  4. · Bearings: lightning current and arcing can cause surface damage to bearing components, leading to long-term degradation and reduction in lifetime.

With the growing use of wind turbines for power generation, the role of Lightning Protection Systems (LPS) to limit outages and system downtime has become increasingly critical. 

The LPS for the protection of facilities and other structures generally consists of four main components: a network of strike termination devices (lightning rods); a network of conductors to move lightning energy from the strike termination devices toward earth; a network for ground terminations (ground rods); and equipotential bonding and surge protection devices.

Lightning Eliminators minimize risks of downtime caused by lightning strike; we offer our customised and patented lightning protection system and solution in accordance to international standards.

In fact, we have been protecting expensive equipment and facilities for about as long as, or maybe longer than, wind power has been a viable industry. We’re big on standards, regulation, safety, total cost of ownership and if you’re concerned about how lightning protection affects your wind power investment, we’d like to talk to you.

Drop your contact info and we will reach out to you!

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