EMTP analysis of the lightning performance of a HV

transmission line
I.M. Dudurych, T.J. Gallagher, J. Corbett and M. Val Escudero
Abstract: An accurate analysis of the lightning performance of a HV transmission line using the
EMTP program is presented. By means of simulation using a digital model developed within the
ATP-EMTP program with its MODELS-feature, the performance of a 110 kV unshielded
overhead line under the inuence of a direct lightning stroke is analysed. The simulation includes
an adequate model of the transmission line, while also taking account of other factors such as the
frequency dependence of the line parameters, models of wooden-porcelain insulation, wooden, and
metallic towers and grounding systems including their impulse resistance characteristics. An
impulse corona model (described elsewhere) is used, which, together with an adequate presentation
of the ashover mechanism appropriate to air/porcelain insulation, allows one not only to predict
the crest value of the overvoltages throughout the line, but also to assess accurately the real impact
on the line ttings and substation equipment of the lightning surge travelling over the line. All the
models are thoroughly veried by an extensive comparison of the simulated results with
experiments by previous authors. Practical recommendations based on the simulations are made
for an improvement in the lightning performance of a typical 110 kV transmission line.

Introduction

Today, high power quality and reliability of supply is

demanded by the public from electrical utilities that are
often either restricted in refurbishing existing transmission
lines, or delayed in building new lines because of environmental objections by this self-same public. It is considered
by many of these electrical utilities that lightning causes at
least half of all the faults on HV overhead lines (OHL), and
therefore has a very signicant detrimental effect on power
quality. The challenge is to nd a solution that could
enhance the lightning performance of HV overhead lines,
but which does not make an additional impact on the
environment in the widest sense of the term. To meet this
challenge a thorough analysis of phenomena accompanying
the lightning strike to an overhead line is needed.
In this paper we introduce the concept of the analysis of
the lightning performance of HV transmission lines by
including models of a number of important associated
phenomena [13] in our EMTP model, which are described
in detail in Section 2. In Section 3 a case study is presented
of a particular conguration of a 110 kV overhead line and
our EMTP simulations of a lightning strike to this line and
the subsequent ashover between a line conductor to the
support cross-arm on a wooden pole, or to a steel tower.
Section 4 concludes with suggestions for improving the
lightning performance of this line following the simulations
on our digital model of the line.

r IEE, 2003
IEE Proceedings online no. 20030252
doi:10.1049/ip-gtd:20030252
Publication date: 10th April 2003. Paper rst received 26th June 2002 and in
revised form 19th December 2002
I.M. Dudurych and T.J. Gallagher are with the Department of Electronic &
Electrical Engineering, University College Dublin, Beleld, Dublin 4, Ireland
J. Corbett and M. Val Escudero are with the Electrical Power Systems, ESB
International, Stephen Court, 18/21 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
IEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 150, No. 4, July 2003

2 Mathematical and digital modelling of HV

overhead line for lightning studies
The ATP-EMTP program (Alternative Transient Program
Electromagnetic Transient Program) [4, 5] was chosen as a
modelling environment for our task. Using this program we
can represent in the time domain all the essential elements
of an OHL that are relevant to lightning studies. Also, its
MODELS feature allows us to introduce our concepts of
nonlinear phenomena such as the corona and break-down
mechanism of solid-air insulation.

2.1

Components of an EMTP model

The core part of a digital model of a typical HV

transmission line for our lightning studies comprises blocks
representing a number of spans, or sections of line,
terminated by steel towers or wooden poles that support
the phase, and shield-wires of the line. A typical geometry of
a span for an overhead line (OHL) with combined wooden
poles and steel towers is shown in Fig. 1. Apart from an
accurate frequency-dependent model of the phase conductors, and shield wires, if any, components such as wooden
poles/cross-arms, metal towers/cross-arms, porcelain/glass
insulators, and footing resistances are represented in our
digital model. All these components are represented as
dynamic models that reproduce their behaviour under the
conditions of a lightning strike.
Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, we can illustrate the following
main elements of our EMTP model of a single span of OH
transmission line for lightning studies: (1) a multiphase
frequency-dependent model of the overhead transmission
line, (2) a wooden pole model with a voltage-controlled
switch, (3) a steel tower model as a single-phase line with
distributed parameters, (4) a model of a section of a steel
cross-arm as a lumped inductance, (5) an impulse footing
resistance model as a nonlinear current-dependent resistor,
(6) an insulator string model as a capacitor with a TACScontrolled switch, representing the breakdown mechanisms
501

Downloaded 11 Dec 2010 to 147.102.131.118. Redistribution subject to IET licence or copyright; see http://ietdl.org/copyright.jsp

steel tower

wooden pole support

Fig. 1

is the soil ionisation gradient (about 300 kV/m) [6], and r is

the soil resistivity in Om. Thus, earth electrode of a steel
tower is represented in our EMTP model as a type-91
nonlinear TACS-controlled resistor.
The wooden pole supports of the span, shown in Fig. 1,
are represented by resistor-capacitor combinations with
their steel cross-arms being modelled as small inductors. A
typical resistance of 7.5 MO and capacitance of 3 pF [7, 8]
were used in the simulation, while the inductance of the steel
cross-arms was calculated as


m0
2hcra
3
ln
Lcr-a
2p
rcra

Geometry of typical span of HV transmission line

6
4
6

6
1

7
3

7
2

Fig. 2 Main elements of EMTP model of typical span of HV

transmission line

across air-porcelain or air-glass insulation, and (7) an

impulse corona model as a combination of a pre-charged
capacitor and variable nonlinear TACS-controlled element
of type 93, controlled from MODELS [4].
The core element to be represented in our lightning
studies is the transmission line itself as an element with
distributed frequency-dependent parameters. This frequency
dependence has been explored by using the JMarti
frequency-dependent model with constant transformation
matrix in ATP-EMTP [5]. Other important elements of our
model are the inclusion of a terminating sub-station and the
representation of a lightning stroke by a current source
with, or without, a lightning channel surge impedance. A
description of each component of our model in Fig. 2 is
outlined below.

2.1.1 Steel towers and wooden poles: The steel

towers have a pyramidal shape, as seen from Fig. 1, and can
be approximated by an equivalent cone whose surge
impedance Zt is calculated from (1), derived by Darveniza
et al. [6]:
Zt 30 ln

2h2t rt2
rt2

ATP-EMTP

R
u1
S

trip

solution
of flashover
model
equations

u2

Fig. 3

ATP-EMTP implementation of flashover model

the arc path involves wood, either internally or if the arc

hugs the surface. We have estimated Rarc to be about 80 O
for a peak current of 10 kA and a typical geometry of a
110 kV OHL, but a more accurate model of the arc should
be used if reected waves are considered in lightning studies.

2.1.2 Insulators and the flashover mechanism:

1

where ht is the tower height and rt is the base radius of the

equivalent cone. For a 110 kV OHL the tower height is
12.514.5 m. Steel towers are normally earthed in a manner
to obtain the lowest possible footing resistance in the
surrounding soil. These resistances range from 100 O to
300 O, but with the use of special earthing procedures,
values from 30 O to 40 O or lower can be achieved.
Under the effect of a lightning current through the bulk
of a steel tower or earthing electrode of a wooden pole, their
footing resistance changes and is determined mainly by the
magnitude of the lightning current as follows
R0

2
Rt q
2pR2
1 Esi r0 I
where R0 is the tower footing resistance at low current and
low frequency, Rt is the tower footing resistance, I is the
lightning current owing through the footing resistance, Esi
502

where hcr-a is the height of the cross-arm above earth and

rcr-a is the equivalent radius of the cross-arm, which is made
as a channel of oblong cross-section.
The possibility of a ashover down the wooden pole is
treated in the model by introducing a voltage-controlled
switch that is normally off (element 2 in Fig. 2). If the
electric stress across the pole exceeds a ashover threshold
of 325 kV peak/m, estimated from Fig. 3 of [9], then this
switch closes through a small series resistance Rarc,
accounting for a residual arc voltage, which was observed
by Darveniza et al. [10], as well as by Maikopar [11], when

Porcelain and glass insulators are represented in the EMTP

model by capacitors connected between the respective
phases and the pole or tower. Under a lightning impulse
the surface leakage current of porcelain and glass insulators
is small in comparison to their capacitive current, and
therefore their conductances are neglected in these studies.
Typical capacitances, which include the coupling effects of
conductors to the metal cross-arm, are 5080 pF [7, 12] for
the porcelain suspension insulators.
The ashover or back-ashover mechanism of insulators
subjected to lightning-induced over-voltages consists of
three different processes: corona inception, streamer
propagation and leader propagation [2, 12, 13]. When the
injected voltage exceeds the corona inception voltage,
streamers propagate along the insulator string, and after
some time, if the voltage remains high enough, these
streamers develop into a leader channel. A ashover occurs
in the gap between a conductor and the cross-arm when the
leader crosses this gap, or when two leaders, developing
from each electrode, collide. The above is true for gaseous
IEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 150, No. 4, July 2003

Downloaded 11 Dec 2010 to 147.102.131.118. Redistribution subject to IET licence or copyright; see http://ietdl.org/copyright.jsp

ttot tc ts tl

where tc, the corona inception time, is neglected in our

calculations because it is very small in comparison to the
other two, ts is the streamer propagation time and tl is the
leader propagation time. In [2], the formula proposed for
the streamer propagation time ts, based on experimental
results, is
E50
5
ts
1:25E  0:95E50
where E50 is the average gradient at the critical ashover
voltage (CFO) in kV/m, and E is the maximum gradient in
the gap before breakdown in kV/m. Normally, the streamer
propagation time is only about 30% of the total breakdown
time, which has a range of 26 ms for air-porcelain
insulation of 110 kV lines.
The most important component of the total breakdown
time, ttot, is the leader propagation time across the insulator
string, which can be found by solving the differential
equation [2]:


dl
U t
kl U t
 E0
6
dt
gl
where U(t) is the voltage across the gap in kV, g is the gap
length in m (assumed to be equal to the distance between
the conductor and cross-arm in our studies), l is the leader
length in m, E0 is the eld strength in the gap when the
leader development starts, and kl is the leader coefcient,
which is equal to 1.3 and 1.2 m2 kV2 s1, respectively, for
negative and positive polarity strokes applied to air gaps or
to post insulators. Accordingly E0 600 kV/m and 520
kV/m for negative and positive strokes, respectively [2]. The
use of (6) for the calculation of the leader velocity implies
that the leader propagation stops if the average voltage
gradient in the unbridged part of the gap falls below the
value E0. The method described yields the breakdown
voltage-time characteristics of a long gap with any impulse
wave and polarity, and enables us to count the number of
ashovers and faults occurring on an OHL following a
lightning strike (see Section 3).
The calculation of the total time to ashover, ttot, is
performed in our ashover model shown in Fig. 3, using the
MODELS-language of EMTP. At the step of integration
the voltage difference (u1u2) across the switch S is passed
from ATP-EMTP to MODELS. First, the maximum
gradient in the gap before breakdown, E, and streamer
propagation time, ts, are calculated by (5). Equation (6) is
then integrated and a leader development time is obtained
as the instant when the leader length l reaches the value of
the gap length g, which corresponds to a breakdown of the
gap. At that moment a trip signal is passed from MODELS
to the TACS-controlled switch S to close, imitating the
ashover of the porcelain/air gap (capacitance C in Fig. 3).
The primary arc appearing during ashover is represented
in this model by the linear resistance R in Fig. 3, but also
can be represented by a more elaborate arc model, described
in [14].
In order to validate our model of ashover we conducted
a series of simulations reproducing different congurations
of insulating gaps and strings of air-porcelain/air-glass
insulators. For this purpose we simulated the application of
a 1.5/40 ms negative voltage wave to this insulation. In
Fig. 4, the voltage-time characteristics obtained from our
IEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 150, No. 4, July 2003

crest voltage, MV

as well as for solid-gaseous insulation, and particularly for

air-porcelain or air-glass insulation. Consequently, the total
time to ashover of air-porcelain or air-glass insulation can
be expressed as follows:

1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7

experiment
simulation

3
4
5
6
time to flashover,
s

Fig. 4 Voltage-time characteristics for 40 in (101.6 cm) vertical

gap obtained from experiments and from our simulations

simulations for a 40 in (101.6 cm) vertical rod-to-rod gap

have been compared to the impulse ashover characteristics
of the same gap described in [15]. The excellent agreement
between the experimental and simulation results serves as
proof that the leader development method can be safely
used for the simulation of the suspension insulator strings,
equipped with arc horns. For our simulation case the values
of E0 and kl in the (6) were extracted from [2] as
E0 670 kV/m and kl 1.0 m2 kV2 s1.

2.1.3 Terminating substations: In our ATP-EMTP

model of an OHL we have represented the terminating substations by three-phase AC sources of type 14 connected to
three-phase RL-elements with mutual magnetic coupling.
These parameters are the real parameters of the connected
systems shown in Fig. 5 rather than articial matching
resistances, which have been used by previous workers in
earlier lightning studies in order to avoid reected waves.
Indeed, if we are interested only in an analysis of the rst
lightning stroke impact in a time interval which is less than

send. s/s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 20 rec. s/s

Fig. 5

Sketch of modelled 110 kV line section

the travel time of the injected wave to the substation, we can

terminate a line section by matching resistances which are
equal to the surge impedances of an ideal line. However,
actual reected waves should be taken into account if
successive lightning strokes have to be modelled, and if we
want to include the operation of lightning protection
equipment such as the circuit breakers of terminating substations. Furthermore, in our ATP-EMTP model the phase
angles are chosen to make the worst-case scenario at the
instant of the lightning strike to a phase, which is phase C
in our studies (i.e. the maximum instantaneous value of the
50 Hz voltage is on phase C at the instant of the lightning
strike to a phase). Such an approach allows us to build a
more exible, and general, model of different operational
situations for HV networks.

2.1.4 Lightning stroke: The lightning stroke is represented in our studies by a single-stroke Heidler-type [4]
current source t1/t ms of negative polarity, with a parallel
impedance equal to the lightning channel surge impedance.
The shape of the surge is described by
it

Im t=t1 2
et=t
Z 1 t=t1 2

where t1, the front time constant, is proportional to the

front duration, t is equal to the stroke duration, i.e. the time
503

Downloaded 11 Dec 2010 to 147.102.131.118. Redistribution subject to IET licence or copyright; see http://ietdl.org/copyright.jsp

We have modelled the lightning strike purely as a singlestroke ash of negative polarity and we have not considered
the effects of positive polarity or of a multi-stroke lightning
strike for several reasons: rst, the interval between strokes
in a multi-stroke ash is about 30 ms [13], and therefore the
effect of a second, or subsequent, stroke to a line can be
treated as a separate event; second, from limited data
acquired using the EA Technology, UK, lightning location
system for the electrical utility (ESB) in Ireland, it appears
that the ratio of negative to positive strokes, while smaller
than hitherto assumed, is still about four to one, and on
average half of all negative strokes are single-strokes,
whereas only 10% of positive strikes have multiple
components [2]; third, although the current associated with
second strokes of a multi-stroke ash has a much steeper
rate-of-rise than the initial stroke, the fact that they usually
have amplitudes only about 40% of the peak of the rst
stroke means that any overvoltage caused by these second
strokes are signicantly lower than the overvoltage transient
from the rst stroke to a line. In our model we used 4 kO as
the impedance of the lightning channel from a mean value
of measurements presented in [12, 16].
3 EMTP model of 110 kV transmission line and
simulation results
Our EMTP model is applied to a typical 110 kV overhead
line with combined wooden poles and steel towers, which is
located in the north-west region of Ireland. This line was
selected because it had been identied as a lightning hotspot on the system from another study of the lightning
strike density throughout this region. It has no ground wires
and phase conductors are suspended on insulators attached
to steel cross-arms, which are not earthed, as previously
shown in Fig. 1. A sketch of a part of this line is shown in
Fig. 5. The line connects a sub-station from a hydro power
plant with customers in an area some 62 km to the northeast. Some nineteen spans were selected to include steel
towers 1, 6, 14 & 20 in order to take into account the
reected voltage waves from these towers, and a direct
lightning stroke was injected in the middle of the span
between poles 1011 in this Figure. In this case, the wave
travel time between the stricken span and the farthest steel
tower at either side is approximately 6 ms. Thus, the crest
values of induced lightning transients with fronts up to 12 ms
duration can be modelled correctly.
The sections of the 110 kV OH line shown in Fig. 5 are
represented by the frequency-dependent Jmarti-three-phasemodel of a transmission line with distributed parameters
(see element 1 in Fig. 2). These parameters were determined
by the line constants routine using the ATPdraw graphic
interface of the ATP-program, with the phase/modal
transformation matrix being calculated at the frequency of
500 kHz with the skin effect included. The same model
represents each of the nineteen spans of the line of 200 m
length. The rest of the line is congured by three sections of
the same model: the rst section representing the 22 km
504

connecting tower 1 with the sending sub-station 1; the

second 32 km section is from receiving sub-station 2 to the
transposition point (A-B-C-to-C-A-B phase sequence); and
the last 6 km section from this point to tower 20. Threephase wires of the OH line are suspended on 7/9-unit
porcelain/glass insulator strings suspended on steel crossarms that are not earthed but are mounted on wooden
poles. Anchor towers 1, 6, 14, and 20 are made of steel and
have a good earthing in the order of 35 O. Wooden poles
comprise approximately 80% of all line supports.
To analyse the fault rate of a 110 kV line due to lightning
a number of simulations were conducted by the systematic
application of lightning surges of the Heidler-type with
CIGRE front time distribution to the line shown in Fig. 5.
All strikes were applied to phase C of the line at the
midspan between wooden poles 1011. When a current
source is applied a voltage surge is generated, which travels
along a line and produces ashovers of insulator strings,
which are bridged by electric arcs. Then, using the ATPEMTP results it is possible to count the total number of
ashovers and to classify them into three categories of fault:
a single-phase ashover is across one insulator string, twophase ashover across two insulator strings, and threephase ashover across three insulator strings on the same
pole or tower. The results, obtained from simulations for a
CFO voltage of 550 kV are shown in Fig. 6 as proportions
of fault types on the line.
30
no. of flashovers

interval between t 0 and the point on the tail where the

current amplitude has fallen to 37% of its peak value and
was taken as 50 ms, Im is the peak value of the lightning
current and Z is an adjustment coefcient. Values for the
front time duration t1, which is the dominant component of
(7) in our studies, have been calculated using the CIGRE [2]
distribution as

t1 0:0834Im0:828 if Im  20 kA
8
t1 0:154Im0:624
if Im 420 kA

single-phase
two-phase
three-phase

25
20
15
10
5
0
4.5 5

9 10 12 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70

peak value of lightning current, kA

Fig. 6 Proportions of fault types for 110 kV line with unearthed

metal cross-arms on wooden poles

The number of ashovers depends on the peak value of

the applied surge of current. For the line conguration
discussed and lightning current peaks less than 6 kA, the
impulse current at ashover normally ows through the arc
to the nearest earthed metal tower forming a single-phase
fault. When the peak value of a lightning current is 68 kA,
insulator strings of two adjacent phases are normally
bridged by electric arcs, and an impulse current ows from
the stricken phase C through the arc to a metal cross-arm
on the nearest wooden pole and then through an arc over
the insulators of phase B, thus forming a two-phase fault,
and also to the nearest earthed metal tower forming a
single-phase fault. For peak lightning currents greater than
8 kA, the insulator strings of all three phases on the same
pole are normally bridged by electric arcs, and an impulse
current ows from the stricken phase C through an arc to
a metal cross-arm on the nearest wooden pole, before being
distributed through the arcs over the insulators of phases
B and A, thus forming a three-phase fault, and also to
the nearest earthed metal tower to provide a path for the
current to ow over one or more insulator strings to the
earthed tower.
As a measure to decrease the number of multiple
ashovers induced by a lightning stroke, and thus the
number of multiphase faults on the 110 kV network, an
earthing procedure for the steel cross-arms was proposed.
These results are presented in Figs. 7 and 8, where the
IEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 150, No. 4, July 2003

Downloaded 11 Dec 2010 to 147.102.131.118. Redistribution subject to IET licence or copyright; see http://ietdl.org/copyright.jsp

single-phase
two-phase
three-phase

25
20

no. of flashovers

no. of flashovers

30

15
10
5
0

4.5 5

7 8 9 10 12 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70
peak value of lightning current, kA

Fig. 7 Proportions of fault types for 110 kV line with earthed

metal cross-arms (R 200 O)

no. of flashovers

30

single-phase
two-phase
three-phase

25
20
15
10
5
0
4.5 5

8 9 10 12 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70
peak value of lightning current, kA

Fig. 8 Proportions of fault types for 110 kV line with earthed

metal cross-arms (R 34 O)

cross-arms on wooden poles are earthed through earthing

resistances of 200 and 34 O respectively. As seen from these
Figures, a dramatic drop in the number of multiphase faults
can be achieved in this way. The total number of ashovers
is reduced by approximately 70%, which is very important,
since only one insulator string instead of three, as for a
multiphase fault, is exposed to arcing during the lightning
strike, and thus the total potential damage to the line
insulation is dramatically reduced.
For the original conguration of the line without an
earthed cross-arm, a multi-phase fault is produced when the
lightning current is Z6 kA. In this case, eight insulator
strings are exposed to arcing due to ashover: two insulator strings on pole 10 (phases C and B) and six insulator
strings on phase C on supports 11, 12, 14 on one side of
the stricken point and supports 9, 8, 6 on the other side. On
the other hand, when the metal cross-arms are earthed with
an earthing resistance of 200 O, a multi-phase fault is only
produced when the lightning current reaches 30 kA with
only six insulator strings bridged by an electric arc: four
insulator strings on poles 10 and 11 (phases C and B) and
two insulator strings on phase C on supports 9 and 12 on
both sides of the stricken point. The earthing resistance of
34 O gives even better results with multi-phase faults
produced at 40 kA of lightning current and the same
number (six) of bridged insulator strings.
Another way was explored to improve the lightning
performance of our 110 kV line, by increasing the insulation
level of this line through replacing the metal cross-arms by
wooden or other insulating materials. In our digital model
we represented wooden arms as resistor-capacitor combinations with parameters R 1.083 MO/m and C 3.66 pFm
[10]. The breakdown of the wood was modelled by a
voltage-controlled switch, which has to be closed when the
voltage across the wooden cross-arm is sufcient to exceed
the threshold stress of 325 kV/m [10].
As seen from Fig. 9, replacing metal cross-arms by
wooden cross-arms enhances the 110 kV line lightning
performance in the range of lightning currents from 0 to
12 kA. In the rest of the range its performance deteriorates
slightly compared to the conguration with metal crossIEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 150, No. 4, July 2003

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

steel cross-arms
wooden cross-arms

4.5 6

9 10 12 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70
lightning current, kA

Fig. 9 Dependence of number of flashovers on crest value of

lightning current

arms. This is because when the lightning current is less than

12 kA the increased insulation of wooden supports is able to
withstand the generated voltage surges, and only insulator
strings on the nearest metal towers are bridged by an electric
arc to form a single-phase short-circuit. However, when the
lightning current is greater than 12 kA, an increased voltage
surge bridges an increased insulation of wooden supports,
producing more ashovers than in the original case up to a
lightning current of 50 kA, because the voltage-time
characteristic of an increased insulation of wooden poles
allows voltages to develop to higher values. In the lightning
current range from 70 kA and above there is no difference
in the lightning performance of the two line congurations
due to a kind of saturation, because all three-phase faults
are produced on all seven wooden poles and two earthed
steel supports, localising the lightning faults between the
two earthed towers. Then, only insulator strings on the
nearest metal towers are bridged by an arc, forming a
single-phase short-circuit. In practice, however, it is most
unlikely that wooden insulation of cross-arms would
enhance lightning performance because of surface degradation from pollution and moisture, so this approach is not
recommended.
Our analysis of lightning-induced faults on the Irish
110 kV network with metal cross-arms for the period 1994
2000 shows that 74% of all conrmed lightning-induced
faults on these lines were caused by currents less than or
equal to 10 kA, and that 73% of these were three-phase
faults. However, according to our simulations, in the case of
wooden cross-arms, all faults in the current range up to
10 kA would be single-phase faults, whereas in the original
conguration three-phase faults begin with lightning
currents of 7.5 kA. For wooden cross-arms the threshold
current for three-phase faults is 13 kA [17].
4

Conclusions

A concept has been presented for the accurate analysis of

the lightning performance of a HV transmission line using
the EMTP program.
A case study was considered for analysis of a particular
110 kV unshielded overhead line under the inuence of a
direct lightning stroke by means of simulation on a digital
model, developed within the ATP-EMTP program using its
MODELS-feature. It includes an adequate model of the
transmission line, while also taking account of the frequency
dependence of the line parameters, models of woodenporcelain insulation, wooden and metallic towers, and
grounding systems including the impulse earth resistance
characteristics.
Simulations on our ATP-EMTP model showed that both
metal cross-arm earthing technology and replacing metal
cross-arms with insulating arms can enhance the lightning
performance of the 110 kV network in Ireland, but that the
former method is preferable.
505

Downloaded 11 Dec 2010 to 147.102.131.118. Redistribution subject to IET licence or copyright; see http://ietdl.org/copyright.jsp

Acknowledgments

I.M. Dudurych would like to thank the Electricity Supply

Board, Ireland, for nancial support through the award of a
Newman Scholarship, which enabled this work to be
carried out, and the Department of Electronic and Electrical
Engineering, University College Dublin, for providing
facilities for this research.
6

References

1 Gallagher, T., Dudurych, I., and Holly, M.: Advanced simulation of

the lightning performance of a 110 kV unshielded overhead line.
Proceedings of the European EMTP-ATP Conference proceedings,
UWE Bristol, UK, 34 September 2001, pp. 122132
2 Guide to procedures for estimating the lightning performance of
transmission lines, CIGRE working group 33-01 (lightning) of study
committee 33 (overvoltages and insulation co-ordination), 1991
3 Dudurych, I., and Gallagher, T.: Model of impulse corona for the
study of the lightning performance of HV transmission lines
Submitted for publication to IEE Proc., Gener. Transm. Distrib
4 Alternative transient program (ATP) Rule Book, (K.U. Leuven
EMTP Centre, 1987)
5 Dommel, H.W.: Electromagnetic transients program (EMTP Theory
Book), (BPA, Portland, USA, 1986)
6 Darveniza, M., Sargent, M.A., Limbourn, G.J., Choy, L.A., Caldwell,
R.O., Currie, J.R., Holcombe, R.H., and Frowd, R.: Modelling for
lightning performance calculations, IEEE Trans. Power Appar. Syst.,
1979, 98, (5), pp. 19001908

506

7 IEEE working group report: Modelling guidelines for fast front

transients, IEEE Trans. Power Deliv., 1996, 1, (1), pp. 493506
8 Val Escudero, M., and Corbett, J.: Improvement of the lightning
protection performance of unshielded, wood pole, 110 kV lines with
ungrounded cross-arms. Proceedings of the 25th International
Conference on Lightning Protection, Rhodes, 1822 September
2000, pp. 645648
9 Darveniza, M., Holcombe, B.C., and Stillman, R.H.: An improved
method for calculating the impulse strength of wood porcelain
insulation, IEEE Trans. Power Appar. Syst., 1979, 98, (5), pp. 1909
1915
10 Darveniza, M., Limbourn, G.J., and Prentice, S.A.: Line design and
electrical properties of wood, IEEE Trans. Power Appar. Syst., 1967,
86, pp. 13441353
11 Maikopar, A.C.: Arc short circuits at power transmission lines,
(Energia, Moscow, 1965)
12 Bazutkin, V., Larionov, V., and Pintal, Y.: High voltage engineering.
Insulation and overvoltages in electrical systems, (Energoatomidat,
Moscow, 1986), (in Russian)
13 Gallagher, T.J., and Pearmain, A.J.: High voltage measurement,
testing and design, (John Wiley & Sons, London, 1983)
14 Dudurych, I., and Rosolowski, E.: Analysis of overvoltages on
overhead ground wires of EHV power transmission line under singlephase-to-ground faults, Electr. Power Syst. Res., 2000, 53, (1), pp.
105111
15 Electrical transmission and distribution reference book (Westinghouse
Electric Corporation, 1964)
16 Jonson, I.B., and Shultz, A.J.: A hypothesis concerning lightning
phenomena and transmission-line ashover, AIEE Trans. Power
Appar. Syst., 1958, pp. 14701479
17 Dudurych, I.: Information report on the progress of the project RN8242 Lightning performance improvement, parts 1 & 2. UCD,
Dublin, May 2001, April 2002

IEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 150, No. 4, July 2003

Downloaded 11 Dec 2010 to 147.102.131.118. Redistribution subject to IET licence or copyright; see http://ietdl.org/copyright.jsp