Performance of Large-Scale Grounding Systems in Thermal Power Plants Against Lightning Strikes to Nearby Transmission Towers

In spite of the contemporary interest in renewable power plants, thermal power plants are still inevitable. Various electric equipment and apparatus are grounded via a large-scale grounding system in thermal power plants. In this paper, the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method has been employed to study the performance of such a large-scale grounding system against a lightning strike to a nearby transmission tower. The study has emphasized how a nearby sea, which is utilized for cooling purposes in thermal power plants, influences the ground potential rise on the large-scale grounding system considering soil ionization. The results show that the distribution of the ground potential rise on the large-scale grounding system is quite dependent on the alignment of sea with the large-scale grounding system. In addition, the extent that soil ionization affects the ground potential rise is dependent on the distance between the struck tower and the large-scale grounding system.