Designing Optimum Substation Lightning Shield Protection

This paper will assist in creating optimal substation lightning protection shielding designs. It explores the issue of shield wires falling down failure and determines that shield wires can be used over equipment and buses and along with lightning mast, the combination of which will provide optimum lightning shield protection for the substation. By comparing the two designs, the paper illustrates the lower cost of using both mast and shield wire in the design over solely using mast. The paper also compares the two major design methods: the classical empirical fixed angle method and the electrogeometric (EGM) model rolling sphere method. The two design methods are applied to three different substations each of a different voltage. For comparison, the cost of the protection shield designs are provided along with the damage risk probabilities of each to assist the designer in choosing an optimal design.