Multiple wind turbines shielding model of lightning attractiveness for mountain wind farms

•The quantitative relationship between terrain and lightning collection area was obtained using simplified SLIM.•The obvious nonlinear relationship between the lightning collection area and the lightning current was obtained.•The obvious saturation trend in the LCA with increase in ground slope angle was obtained. Moreover, increase in the lightning current makes the saturation trend of the lightning collection area more obvious.•The terrain makes lightning collection areas of multiple wind turbines have various overlapping relationships in space. The overlapping relationships were quantitatively analyzed and the differentiated lightning attractiveness of the mountainous wind farm was evaluated by the multi-wind turbine shielding model. In this study, a lightning attractiveness assessment method was proposed for mountain wind farms (WFs). A full-size wind turbine (WT) model accounting for terrain topography was established. Then, the lightning collection area (LCA) of WTs was calculated using the self-consistent leader inception and propagation model (SLIM). Finally, a quantitative relationship between terrain structure and the LCA of a WT was obtained, and a shielding model was incorporated to realize differentiated lightning attractiveness assessment of WFs. Results showed that higher terrain height and steeper ground slope angle both increase the size and the height of the LCA, meaning that lightning attractiveness can vary because of terrain differences, even for WTs with the same elevation. The influence of ground slope angle on the LCA showed a saturation trend. The variation of the LCA was analyzed based on the distortion effect of the terrain structure on the electric field. By comparison, the simulation results of lightning attractiveness for mountain WFs in this paper are in good agreement with the actual observation results in flat and mountainous areas. The proposed model could be used to identify weaknesses in the lightning protection of mountain WFs.