Wind turbine power electronics and electrical machines: On lightning protection simulation

This paper presents an overview of wind energy in Portugal and briefly describes the Portuguese Lightning Location System. Some aspects of lightning activity in Portugal are discussed. The method for risk assessment due to lightning flashes to earth is performed by the computer program LPS 2008 developed in Visual Basic by the authors. LPS 2008 is based on well established standards and on the Rolling Sphere Method. LPS 2008 draws in 3D the most vulnerable points to lightning of a structure. A case study is presented to illustrate the protection measures resulting from this methodology, reducing damages due to lightning effects in power electronics and electrical machines to acceptable levels.