Modeling and mitigation of lightning-induced overvoltages in wind turbine systems: A case study of Lamma WPP

• Lightning strikes pose increasing risks to wind turbine components. • Standard and non-standard lightning waveforms were modeled in MATLAB/SIMULINK. • Hybrid use of MOSA and HVF reduced overvoltage risk by over 95%. • Composite EGLA design lowered overvoltages by ∼57% compared to NGLA. • Mitigation strategies enhance safety and reduce wind farm maintenance costs. Lightning strikes pose a growing threat to wind turbines, particularly due to climate change and technological advancements. This study focuses on the 9 MW Lamma Wind Power Plant (WPP) in Hong Kong, analyzing the effects of standard and non-standard lightning waveforms on its components based on the strike's location. There are four suggested ways to lower the risk: choosing the right metal oxide surge arrester (MOSA), building a high voltage filter (HVF), using both at the same time, and using both an externally gapped line arrester (EGLA) and a non-gapped line arrester (NGLA). Modeling with MATLAB/SIMULINK revealed that a lightning strike near the inverter increased peak voltage by 12.3%, with the tail time parameter rising from 50 to 300 microseconds, leading to a 36.6% increase in peak voltage at the impact site. The concurrent use of MOSA and HVF significantly reduced lightning risk by 95% compared to HVF alone and 96.3% compared to MOSA alone. Additionally, four EGLA models were developed, with the composite air gap variant reducing overvoltage by approximately 57.2% compared to NGLA alone. These mitigation strategies not only enhance the safety of wind power plants but also lower maintenance and replacement costs for expensive components.