Novel approach for determining spots of critical lightning performance along transmission lines

A novel approach is proposed for determining critical spots along transmission lines, concerning lightning performance. It takes into account two localized factors: stroke density and response of line structures to lightning currents. The methodology employs data supplied by lightning location systems and also information about line parameters in order to rank, by means of a severity index, the specific towers along line, which deserve protective actions. The procedure was applied to a real 230 kV line. The results, in terms of first ranked towers, were compared to the history of line outages, as indicated by a fault locator. The results were in very good agreement. This denotes the potential of the proposed approach for general application.