Transient grounding characteristics of wind turbines

Lightning damage to facilities inside or in the vicinity of wind turbines becomes remarkably common. Most of the breakdowns and malfunctions of the electrical and control systems inside or in the vicinity of wind turbines are caused by ground potential rise due to lightning current flowing into the grounding system of the turbine. To clarify the transient characteristics of the wind turbine grounding systems and to understand the mechanism of the breakdowns and malfunctions, we have carried out field tests. In this paper, the measurements of transient grounding characteristics carried out at wind turbines are descried.