Electromagnetic transients and failed upward leaders observed during lightning activity in an onshore wind farm

TL;DR

This study documents electromagnetic transients and failed upward leaders during lightning in a Croatian wind farm, using synchronized lightning, current, and high-speed camera data to analyze lightning interactions with turbines.

Contribution

It provides novel observational data on electromagnetic disturbances and failed upward leaders in wind turbines during lightning events, combining multiple synchronized measurement systems.

Findings

Electromagnetic transients propagate to turbines during nearby lightning.

Failed upward connecting leaders are observed during certain lightning flashes.

Lightning-induced surges affect turbine electrical systems.

Abstract

At a wind farm in Croatia, lightning activity is monitored across the entire site using a lightning location system, and on a single wind turbine equipped with a Rogowski-coil-based current measurement system and a high-speed camera, all independently GPS-synchronized. In addition to recording lightning flash currents on the monitored turbine, the system is frequently triggered by electromagnetic disturbances caused by nearby lightning flashes. These include direct flashes to two neighboring turbines that share the same cable connection to the substation and have interconnected grounding systems with buried bare conductor, as well as cloud-to-ground flashes to soil near cable routes, where the resulting electromagnetic fields couple onto the cables, causing surges to propagate to the monitored turbine. The camera occasionally captures failed upward connecting leaders from the monitored turbine during these lightning events. This paper presents three cases of flashes to two neighboring wind turbines and two cases of cloud-to-ground flashes to nearby soil, all of which induced electromagnetic transients that propagated to the monitored turbine. Failed upward connecting leaders were observed in some of these cases. This paper provides observational analysis, providing Rogowski measurements of electromagnetic disturbances and failed leader currents, complemented by high-speed camera and lightning location system data.