Shielding Failure of High-Voltage Substations: A Fractal-Based Approach for Negative and Positive Lightning

A fractal-based approach is presented for the direct-stroke shielding analysis of high-voltage substations. The proposed method considers the effect of lightning polarity and the stochastic nature of the lightning attachment phenomenon. An application to a typical 69 kV substation reveals that shielding failures may occur even if the shielding design is realized with IEEE Std 998-2012 methods. This can be explained by the fact that the shielding design methods adopted by IEEE Std 998 do not consider the effects of lightning polarity and object height on striking distance. In addition, IEEE Std 998 methods adopt a deterministic approach on shielding failure analysis neglecting the branched and tortuous behavior of lightning discharges. Fractal-based simulation results show a considerable dispersion of striking distance and a significantly higher shielding failure probability for downward positive lightning than negative lightning. This work forms a discussion framework on shielding failure analysis following a stochastic approach; this approach may explain unexpected shielding failures, such as those reported in IEEE surveys, and can be used for the direct-stroke shielding design of mission-critical high-voltage substations.