Investigation of Lightning Electromagnetic Fields on Underground Cables in Wind Farms

Due to the current spreading of wind farms all over the world and their vulnerability to lightning strikes, it is important to investigate the lightning electromagnetic transients in wind farms. Underground cables are one of the essential parts in wind farms that link the turbines with the electrical grid. This paper investigates how the ground conductivity and relative permittivity, struck wind tower position, and rise time of lightning current influence the lightning electromagnetic fields impinging the underground cable sheath. The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method is implemented for this study. The lightning current through the cable sheath and its associated electric field can be effectively mitigated by connecting the grounding systems of the wind towers by underground bare wires called as counterpoise. Accordingly, the mitigation effect of counterpoise on the lightning current through the sheath and its associated electric field is also investigated. The results show that the lightning current through the cable sheath and its associated electric field is higher with lower ground conductivity. Moreover, it is revealed that the effect of both ground permittivity and struck wind tower position on the associated electric field and the sheath current is dependent on the ground conductivity.