578

578
Lightning Protection of Wind Turbine Blades
Working Group
C4.409
June 2014
LIGHTNING
PROTECTION OF
WIND TURBINE
BLADES
WG 4.409
Lightning protection of wind turbine blades
Members
Y. Yokoyama, Convenor (JP), B. Hermoso, Secretary (ES),
V. Cooray (SE), F. D´Alessandro (AU), G. Diendorfer (AT), P. Duquerroy (FR), G. Engmann (US),
H. Erichsen (DK), A. Galvan (MX), E. Gockenbach (DE), M. Havelka (US), M. Ishii (JP),
A. Kanashiro (BR),Y. Méndez (DE), J. Montanya (ES), M. Paolone (IT), F. Rachidi (CH),
A. Rousseau (FR), S. Sekioka (JP), T. Shindo (JP), H. Torres (CO), L. Tudor (RO),
K. Yamamoto (JP), Y. Yasuda (JP)
Copyright © 2014
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ISBN : 978-2-85873-273-9
Page 1
Lightning protection of wind

turbine blades
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 5

Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 6
Chapter 2 Outage Statistics of Wind Turbine Blades .................................................... 7
2.1 Statistics of lightning outages in Europe .......................................................... 7
2.2 Statistics of lightning outages in Japan ............................................................ 8
Chapter 3 Types of Blade Damages.............................................................................. 9
Chapter 4 Lightning Phenomena in Relation to Damages of Wind Turbine Blades ....... 13
4.1 Number of Lightning flashes to wind turbines in the area of usual
summer lightning and in the area of winter lightning..................................... 13
4.2 Lightning attachment manner recorded by a still camera ............................... 13
4.3 Observation of lightning current .................................................................... 15
4.4 Concentration of lightning on selected wind turbines in a wind park .............. 19
4.5 Characteristics of winter lightning (upward leader) and damage manner ........ 20
Chapter 5. Experiments on Lightning Attachment to a Blade ...................................... 21
5.1 Summarization of high voltage test in Shiobara testing yard of CRIEPI
for determining lightning attachment point ................................................... 21
5.2 The standardized high voltage tests on the effect of lightning
protection system for blades ......................................................................... 24
Chapter 6.High-current Test of Wind Turbine Blades ................................................. 28
6.1 Test methods ................................................................................................ 28
6.2 Summarization of a high current test for determining the cause of
damages ....................................................................................................... 28
6.3 Electromechanical forces coming from the peak current…………………………. 29
Page 3
Chapter 7. Mechanism of Blade Damages .................................................................. 30

7.1 Blade rupture and falling to the ground, blade burnout (Type (1a) and
(1b) on Table 4)............................................................................................. 30
7.2 Wire melting (Type (1c) on Table 4) ................................................................ 30
7.3 Cracking along glued blade shell edge, Tearing at blade edge, Surface
stripping (Type (2a), (2b) and (3a) on Table 4) ............................................... 30
7.4 Receptor loss, Receptor vaporization (Type (3b) and (4a) on Table 4) ............. 31
7.5 Surface scorching, other minor damages (Type (4b) and (4c) on Table 4) ....... 31
Chapter 8. Lightning Protection Methods of Wind Turbine Blades ............................... 32
8.1 Blades with lightning protection receptors ..................................................... 32
8.2 Prevention of melting or loss of receptors / heating and cut of lightning
down-conductors .......................................................................................... 32
8.3 Capture of lightning by isolated lightning protection towers .......................... 32
8.4 Schematic diagram on possible causes of damage aspects, and
countermeasures for lightning ...................................................................... 32
Chapter 9. Lightning Risk Management of Wind Turbine Blades ................................. 34
9.1 Lightning Risk Management relevant to a blade damage ................................ 34
9.2 Effects of the rotation of a blade .................................................................... 34
9.3 Maintenance of a blade .................................................................................. 34
9.4 Relevant lightning protection measures for wind turbines .............................. 34
9.5 Summary ....................................................................................................... 34
Chapter 10. Future Research Projects ........................................................................ 37
Chapter 11. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 38
Bibliography/References ............................................................................................ 39
Page 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Lightning discharge is one of the most serious causes of damage of wind turbines. Wind turbine damages occur in
various parts such as mechanical components, transformers, power lines, telecommunication lines, etc. Wind
turbine blades sometimes explode and scatter in all directions following a lightning strike to a blade. It can be very
dangerous for the safety of persons. Economic loss including long term loss of service cannot be ignored also.
Blade damages are more crucial than other outages due to lightning.
In order to design the proper lightning protection measures for wind turbines, the IEC standard 61400-24 (Wind
turbines-Part 24: Lightning protection) was issued in 2010 based upon IEC 62305 and industry experience.
Nevertheless, lightning damage to wind turbine blades still occur albeit less severe. It is necessary to develop
better protection measures for wind turbine blades in order to expand wind power generation systems in area
where thunderstorms are frequent.
Various conditions of configuration and material of blades should be considered in relation to the lightning damages
to wind turbine blades. As the top of a blade pointing upward may be more than 100 meters above ground level,
the number of lightning strikes increases significantly as compared to lower structures. Wind turbine blades are
usually composed of dielectric materials with and without metallic parts. Moreover, wind turbine blades are large
hollow structures made of composite materials such as glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP), wood and wood
laminates. As there is a cavity between two shells, a lightning discharge can intrude into the cavity after its
attachment to a blade.
The object of this report is to give basic data and suggestion of lightning protection for wind turbine blades. Many
research activities, covering investigation of damages, lightning observation, high voltage and high current tests,
have been extensively done for over a decade in order to clarify the mechanism of blade damages and establish
better methods to protect blades against lightning.
In this report, we summarized the results of the above-mentioned research activities and assess the possible
causes of blade damages. Moreover, we propose lightning protection measures for wind turbine blades, which are
thought to be the best at present.
Blade designs comprising carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) are not covered in this study.
A summary of the results presented in this document is as follows:
(1) Damages of wind turbine blades are investigated and classified by the level of severity of damages.
(2) Camera observation is used to understand the attachment of lightning to a blade including a rotating blade.
The possibility of movement of the attachment point due to the rotation of a blade and long duration of a
lightning current was indicated.
(3) High voltage experiments show the possibility of blade damages including the invasion of lightning
discharges into the cavity of a blade and a scratch on a dielectric surface of a blade with receptors.
(4) High current experiments are used to clarify the amount of energy, which can break a blade due to the
pressure of expanding air.
(5) The mechanisms of blade damages are assessed. Not only lightning discharge with large amount of
electric charges, but also those with small amount of electric charges can damage a blade. Lightning with
small charge can make a tear on the surface of a blade and a tear can be enlarged with the rotation of a
blade. A blade receptor can melt due to large amount of electric charge.
(6) From a wider standpoint of lightning protection of a blade, lightning risk management is also important in
addition to individual protection measures. The effect of nearby wind turbines or isolated lightning
protection towers should be considered.
Page 5
Chapter 1 Introduction
Wind turbine blades sometimes explode and scatter in all directions following a lightning strike to a blade. It can be
very dangerous for the safety of persons. However, for modern blades equipped with lightning protection, structural
damage of this type is rare. Economic loss including long term loss of service cannot be ignored too. Blade
damages are more crucial than other outages due to lightning.
In general, protection measures against lightning to reduce physical damage, life hazard and failures of electrical
and electronic systems in a structure are given in IEC 62305-1, -2, -3, and 4 [1-4]. The lightning environment for
wind turbines to be used for dimensioning and testing of the lightning protection systems is defined in IEC 62305-1.
Moreover lightning protection of wind turbine components should obey IEC 62305-3 and -4 and take the risk
management given in IEC 62305-2 into consideration.
Wind turbine blades are usually composed of non-conductive materials with and without metallic parts like a tip
brake wire. IEC 62305 deals with lightning protection of general structures such as buildings, but it does not directly
address the special circumstances for wind turbines with large rotating composite structures. Another important
factor from the point of view of lightning protection is that wind turbine blades are large hollow structures
manufactured of composite materials such as glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP), wood and wood laminates.
IEC 61400-24 (Wind turbines-Part 24: Lightning protection) [5] was issued in 2010 based upon IEC 62305.
Although it is very useful, the problems with lightning damages to wind turbine blades are not completely resolved.
It is necessary to establish better protection measures for wind turbine blades in order to expand wind power
generation systems in the area where thunderstorms are frequent.
Wind turbine blades have special characteristics from the lightning protection viewpoint, namely:
(a) Height of a blade above ground level: As the top of a blade pointing upward may be over 100 meters above
ground level, the number of lightning strikes increases significantly.
(b) There are no other structures around wind turbines. Shielding effects are not expected.
(c) Blade materials, such as FRP, are easy to burn.
(d) Most of blades are composed of two pieces of shells and are hollow. Lightning discharges can intrude into
the cavity resulting in a rupture of a blade.
The object of this report is to give basic data and suggestion of lightning protection for wind turbine blades from the
above-mentioned point of view. This report summarizes the investigation results of lightning damages, high voltage
discharge experiments related to the attachment of lightning strokes to wind turbine blades, and high current
experiments related to rupture of blades and melting of metallic receptors. Moreover, using the above investigation,
the mechanisms of damages are considered and information for better lightning protection measures is given.
Page 6
Chapter 2 Outage Statistics of Wind Turbine Blades
2.1 Statistics of lightning outages in Europe

Outage statistics of wind turbines in Europe is shown in Table 1 [6-7]. Outage ratios are 4-8%. Table 2 shows the
outage rates for various environmental conditions in Germany [6]. From this table the outage rate of wind turbines
located in a low mountainous area is higher than that of wind turbines located in a coastal area. Table 3 shows
outage ratios of each component.
For wind turbines not larger than 450 kW, the most common damage was to the control system, while for those
larger than 450kW the most common damage was to the blades.
These statistics were obtained more than twenty years ago. In the last 20 years, modern wind turbines have
doubled the total height and no data for those turbines is currently available.
Faults per
Turbines in Capacity in Turbine Lightning
Country Period 100 turbine
database MW years faults
years
Germany 1991-1998 1498 352 9204 738 8,0

Denmark 1990-1998 2839 698 22000 851 3,9
Sweden 1992-1998 428 178 1487 86 5,8
Table no. 1: Lightning damage frequency [6]
Faults per Direct Indirect

Site Turbine Capacity in Turbine Lightning a
100 turbine strikes strikes
category number MW years faults
years in % in %
Coastal 616 178 4018 223 5,6 34,1 % 65,9 %

Northern
519 88 3213 239 7,4 23,4 % 76,6 %
lowlands
Low
363 86 1973 277 14,0 30,3 % 69,7 %
mountains
Total 1498 352 9204 739 8,0 29,1 % 70,9 %
a
Damage caused by indirect strokes implies damage caused by a lightning stroke not hitting the structure directly.
Table no. 2: Regional effect on lightning damage (Germany) [6]

Faults per Systems faults per 100 unit years
Unit Lightning
Type 100 unit
years fault Blade Control Power Other
years
Tip brake 586 43 7,3 0,7 3,1 2,4 1,2
No tip brake 901 43 4,8 0,3 2,2 1,3 0,9
Total 1487 86 5,8 0,4 2,6 1,7 1,0
Table no. 3: Lightning fault summary (Sweden) [6]
Page 7
2.2 Statistics of lightning outages in Japan

In Japan outages of wind turbine generators are investigated by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization, Japan). There are many damages on wind turbines along the coast of the Sea of
Japan [8-9]. Damages to blades constitute 75% of total damages on the wind turbines larger than 1000 kW. The
time to repair due to blade damage in winter is three times as much as that in summer. Including the total number
of damage events, blade damages in winter tend to be more serious than those in summer. Melting damages of
receptors, which are installed for protection of wind turbine blades, were observed frequently.
For this reason, investigations into lightning protection for wind turbines have been undertaken in Japan.
Page 8
Chapter 3 Types of Blade Damages

Yasuda and Yokoyama classified the damages to wind turbine blades into several categories based on damage
level [10-12]. The classification proposed in [11] is shown in Table 4, which contains four-level categories
(“catastrophic”, “serious”, “normal” and “minor”) divided into 10 sub-categories depending on physical aspects of
damage incurred. The classification was not only determined by the physical and economic impact but also
considered to associate possible reasons and available countermeasures for each classified category.
It is meaningful to classify damage in the following way in order to understand the mechanism of damages.
Levels (and sub-categories) of damages example

(1) Catastrophic damage requiring immediate turbine shutdown
(1a) Blade rupturing Fig. 1
(1b) Blade burnout Fig. 2
(1c) Wire melting Fig. 3
(2) Serious damage requiring immediate repair
(2a) Cracking along blade shell edges Fig. 4
(2b) Tearing at blade edge Fig. 5
(3) Normal damage requiring repair as soon as possible
(3a) Surface stripping Fig. 6
(3b) Receptor loss Fig. 7
(4) Minor damage not requiring immediate repair
(4a) Receptor vaporization Fig. 8
(4b) Surface scorching Fig. 9
(4c) Other minor damages Fig. 10
Table no. 4: Proposed classification of blade damage [11]
Figure 1: A case of fallen Figure 2: A case of (1b) Figure 3: A case of (1b)

blade to the ground due blade burnout [8] blade burnout and (1c)
to (1a) blade rupturing wire melting [8] (same
[10] turbine and same event as
Fig.2)
Page 9
Figure 4: A case of (2a) Figure 5: A case of (2b) Figure 6: A case of (3a)

cracking along shell edge tearing at blade edge [14] surface stripping [15]
[13]
Figure 7: A case of (3b) Figure 8: A case of (4a) Figure 9: A case of (4b)

receptor loss [8] vaporization on a metal- surface scorching [14]
cap receptor[13](same site
as Fig. 4 but after
countermeasure with a
metal-cap)
Figure 10: A case of peeling

of paint classified in (4c)
other minor damages [8]
Page 10
(1) Catastrophic damage requiring immediate turbine shutdown
(1a) Blade rupture and falling to the ground: Blade rupture and spar separation have occurred
frequently in turbines that were constructed ten years ago or more, and in which preventive measures against
lightning, e.g. receptors, were not installed. A photo of a typical example of this type is shown in Figure 1. It is
critically dangerous because the falling blade may strike persons around a wind turbine. Moreover the economic
loss is significant as it is necessary to replace the blade. Furthermore, the time to repair becomes long.
(1b) Blade burnout: When lightning discharges take place through the surfaces of blades, blades made of
GFRP may sometimes ignite and burn leaving scorch marks. Moreover, when current flows through an imperfect
connection of an air brake wire if present, blade material around the wire may heat up and ultimately ignite. Figure
2 shows a typical example of blade burnout.
(1c) Wire melting: This is a typical incident in conventional wind turbines with tip brakes. A typical case is
shown in Fig. 3, which was taken from the same event in Fig. 2. From these photos, estimates suggest that the
wire in the tip brake melted instantaneously, burning through the centre of the blade, causing spar separation and
finally falling to the ground. Melting of a steel wire for the tip brake control can easily result in scorching and
weakening of blade material ending in collapse of the blade.
General information on the lightning-tolerance of the conventional blade with a tip brake and a steel wire is shown
in Annex C in IEC 61400-24:2010 [5]. Pitchable tip blades have in general not been used since year 2000 as for
modern MW-class wind turbines as advanced wind turbine control and Grid Code requirement makes full span
blade pitch control necessary. The full-span blade pitch control is also better for lightning protection. Without the tip
brake, an unnecessary conductor has been removed from the blade leaving only receptor(s) and a down conductor.
Thus, the full-span blade pitch control significantly reduced blade burnouts.
(2) Serious damage requiring immediate repair
(2a) Cracking along blade shell edge: Cracking along the blade shell edge of a GFRP blade tip can
progress easily under rotation and cause an unexpected break and collapse. Fig. 4 shows an example of the
serious blade failure. Although some of these cases do not seem so serious at a glance, they need immediate
repair, or replacement in the worst case, because these cracks would easily develop to the “catastrophic” damage
if left untreated.
(2b) Surface tearing at blade edge: In blades without a receptor, surface tearing has occurred very
frequently. Figure 5 shows a typical photo of such damage after a lightning strike. Although the damage looks
minor, the rotating blades can become unbalanced, creating asymmetric strains on the damaged blade with a time
lag. This may result in further damage leading to a catastrophic event such as blade separation.
(3) Normal damage requiring repair as soon as possible
(3a) Surface stripping: Surface stripping of a blade with a receptor occurs very frequently. When lightning
passes through a receptor, the discharge may graze along the surface of the blade depending on the path of the
lightning leader and azimuth angle of the blade. An example is shown in Fig. 6. The phenomena did not depend
upon the type of a receptor, i.e. a circular receptor buried within the blade surface or a receptor covering the tip of a
blade. There may be several damage levels involved in surface damages. Heavy burned damage should be
categorized to (1b) while mild burned damage should be (4b). Also, surface abrasion should be categorized to (4b),
because it does not require immediate repair.
Page 11
(3b) Receptor loss and melting: Large energy due to a direct lightning strike on a receptor results
sometimes in the melting of the receptor tip leaving the receptor pitted as shown in Fig. 7. In more severe case,
swelling may cause the drop out of a receptor. A voltage drop due to the cathode effect nearby the metal receptor
has an important effect on this type of damage.
(4) Minor damage not requiring immediate repair
(4a) Receptor vaporization: Due to the large charges in lightning currents, a direct lightning strike on a
receptor sometimes melts the receptor tip leaving the receptor pitted as shown in Fig. 8, which occurred on blade
with a metal-cap receptor. The case in Fig. 8 looks like a serious damage but it would not so dangerous unless the
blade shell edge would not be cracked. Such damage also occurs frequently, but urgent repairs are not usually
necessary. Charge levels have great influence on the wearing of the small tip receptors such as button ones.
Pitting effects may change the aerodynamic profile of the metal-cap receptor and thus increase noise during
operation.
(4b) Surface scorching: Scorches on the surface of a blade as shown in Fig. 9 can also be seen frequently.
Even when lightning strikes a receptor, heat generated by the large energy in the lightning current may burn and
carbonize the surface material surrounding the receptor. However, this type of damage is easy to repair and does
not need immediate intervention. Due to the movement of the blade, the surface scorching runs from the receptor
to the trailing edge of the blade.
(4c) Other minor damages: The final sub-category includes other minor damages such as local exposure of
glass fibres, local stain, pinhole and so on. Peeling of paint often occurs as one of minor damages as shown in
Figure 10. When lightning strikes a blade receptor or grazes the blade surface, heat rise due to the large current
energy can produce peeling or flaking of paint on the surface of the blade. Small dark burnt spots may be
distributed in a straight line along the discharge path on the blade surface. Repairs are only necessary when the
opportunity next arises such as in periodic inspections. A small pinhole on blade surface after lightning is also
categorized in this sub-category. This damage does not look serious and generally is difficult to find by means of
visual inspection during operation. However, the small signs such as a pinhole might aggravate the damage in the
next lightning strike.
Page 12
Chapter 4 Lightning Phenomena in Relation to Damages of Wind

Turbine Blades
4.1 Number of Lightning flashes to wind turbines in the area of usual summer
lightning and in the area of winter lightning
There are two types of lightning discharges. One is the downward lightning discharge, the leader of which starts
from the cloud and moves towards the earth. The other is the upward lightning discharge, the leader of which starts
from a tall structure on the ground and moves upward to thunderclouds. The latter occurs frequently along the
coast of the Sea of Japan and in other areas in the world affected by cold air mass thunderstorms such as
Mediterranean and Nord Sea. Even for the same height of a wind turbine and the same thunderstorm days, the
number of lightning strikes to a wind turbine is different between two seasons.
(1) Number of lightning flashes by a downward leader

Average annual lightning flash density is given by Equation (4.1) according to IEC 62305-2 “Protection against
lightning – Part 2: Risk management” [2].
ND = Ng ×Ad × Cd × 10-6 [ /year] (4.1)
where Ng: Ground flash density [/km2/year]

Ad: Collecting area of high structure [m2]
Cd: Environmental coefficient of high structure
(2) Lightning flash density along the coast of the Sea of Japan in winter season
For tall wind turbines winter lightning is generally initiated by an upward leader. The data recorded by still camera
observations at three locations along the coast of the Sea of Japan showed the number of lightning flashes ”N” per
year. N is proportional to the height of a structure, h [m] and represented by Equation (4.2) [16].
N = h / 8 [/year] (4.2)
N was obtained for high structures along the coast of the Sea of Japan, where winter lightning is very frequent and
the isokeraunic level is about 30-40.
Ref.[17] also shows that the number of lightning flashes to a tall structure in winter depends upon the height of the
2
structure and gives also the equation (4.3) as a function of lightning flash density [ /km /season] .
The number of lightning flashes to a structure = Ratio of lightning stroke × N
Ratio of lightning stroke = 0.11 × height of a structure (4.3)
where N: Lightning flash density measured

by the lightning location system (LLS) [/km2/season]
Recently Ishii and Saito presented a new formula considering the latitude and the elevation of wind turbine
generating stations [18]. More generalized formula should be proposed taking the data in the world into
consideration.
4.2 Lightning attachment manner recorded by a still camera

In order to get the frequency of lightning attachment to blades as well as the exact attachment point of a blade,
observation using still cameras has been conducted [19-20]. Many pictures have been taken and it is clarified that
lightning attaches a blade whether a blade is rotating or not (see Fig.11and Fig.12). But usually an exact
Page 13
attachment point on the blade surface was not able to be determined because of the distance between a camera
and the target blade, and/or foggy or snowy conditions.
From the photographs, the effects of wind direction, wind speed and the rotation of a blade can be appreciated(see
Fig.12).
A blade tip moves at a speed of 83.8 m/s when a rotor with 40-m blades makes one revolution in three seconds.
Assuming that the interval between twosuccessive strokes of a lightning flash is 30 ms, the attachment point of the
first stroke is estimated to move about 2.5 m in the forward direction. For a flash with a duration time of 100ms, the
attachment point is expected to move ahead by 8.4 m.
Figure 11: Lightning discharge on a stationary blade
Figure 12: Lightning discharge on a rotating blade
Page 14
A study of 118 lightning strike distribution for 39m long glass fiber blades in 236 wind turbines showed that the
majority of lightning flashes attached to the tip region of the blade (88%) whereas the remaining strikes attached to
the receptor 5 m inboard the tip [5],[21]. A more recent study of winter lightning to a 90m tall wind turbines in Japan
[22] showed that the majority of the strikes occur for blade angles between –60º to –30º according to Figure 13.
However, a few lightning hits also occur for horizontal (90º) position.
Recent observations with the Ebro Lightning Mapping Array system showed how rotating wind turbines produced
upward discharges with a cadence of about 3 s during periods even longer than 1 h [23]. Also very dim upward
leaders of several rotating wind turbines have been observed with a high-speed video.
c)
Figure 13: a) Distribution of attachment angles; b) Example of a blade position for

a negative angle; and c) picture of an upward winter lightning. Adopted from
Ref.[22]
4.3 Observation of lightning current

It has been suggested that the important factor that causes damages of blades of wind turbines by lightning is the
total charge transferred by a lightning flash. This conjecture is partly supported by the fact that wind turbine blades
are more likely damaged by lightning occurring in the coastal area of the Sea of Japan, which is called ‘Winter
Lightning’, and it is reported that winter lightning often transfers much more charge than usual summer lightning.
This also occurs in other regions of the world as in Mediterranean thunderstorms that produce energetic lightning
[24].
In this paragraph, current observation results of lightning to isolated tall towers and wind turbines carried out in
different area are summarized.
For the measurement of lightning current of wind turbines, a Rogowski coil with low frequency band has been
developed (see Figure 14) and a compact data acquisition system, which has large memory, is used in order to get
data of current waveform of long duration up to one second or more [25].
Page 15
Figure 14: Rogowski coil for measurement of lightning current in a wind turbine
In general a Lightning Location System (LLS) cannot measure the amount of charge. In Japan, research on remote
measurement of the amount of charge in lightning current has been continued.
Year Number of Samples Q > 300C Max

Goishigamine 2004-2006 Total 110 4% 430C
Wind turbine: H=60m (*1)
Kashiwazaki & Fukui 1978-1986 Total 97 7% >1000C
Tower K: H = 80 m (*2) Positive 32 12%
Tower F: H = 200 m (*3) Negative 65 3%
Nikaho 2005-2008 Positive 16 6%(1/16) 687C
Wind turbine: H = 90 m (*4) Negative 147 0%(0/147) (Bipolar)
Bipolar 42 12%(5/42)
*1 The turbine is located on Goishigamine about 460 m above sea level. The distance to the seacoast is about 10 km.
*2 The tower is located on a small hill. The top of the hill is about 90m above sea level and the distance from the seacoast is
about 500 m.
*3 The tower is located on the flat ground about 300 m from the seacoast.
*4 The Nikaho wind park is located on a plateau that is 500 m above sea level on average. The distance from the seacoast is
about 9 km.
Table no.5: Occurrence of lightning with large amounts of charges in winter in

Japan.
Page 16
Figure 15: Locations of observation sites
(1) Observations of lightning currents in Japan

Lightning discharges, that occur along the coast of the Sea of Japan in the winter season, sometimes transfer large
amounts of charges. Observation of lightning currents in winter has been carried out at different sites along the
coast of the Sea of Japan (see Figure15). Table 5 presents the summarized results.
(2) Observations of lightning currents in Switzerland

Berger reported occurrence of lightning that transfers more than 300 C at Mount San Salvatore. The top of the
mountain is 915 m above sea level or 640 m above lake Lugano. The height of the tower is 70 m and most of
lightning observed are from May to September. The observed values for the charge are summarized as follows.
95% 50% 5% Probability: Q > 300 C

Negative flash in C 1.3 7.5 40 ~ 0.02%
Positive flash in C 20 80 350 7%
Table no. 6: Total charges observed at Mount San Salvatore (Berger: 1975) [26]
90% 50% 10% Probability: Q > 300 C

Upward initiated negative
5.4 23 100 ~ 1.3%
flashes with return strokes (C)
Upward initiated positive
flashes with large impulsive 20 84 348 13%
component (C)
Upward initiated bipolar
0.8 12 181 ~ 6.5%
flashes: negative charge (C)
Upward initiated bipolar
1.5 25 345 11%
flashes: positive charge (C)
Table no. 7: Total charges of upward (object-initiated) lightning observed at
Mount San Salvatore (Berger: 1978) [27]
Page 17
Figure 16: Cumulative frequency distribution for all negative upward flashes and
ICC RS , ICC P , ICC Only at the GBT (2000-2007) (G. Diendorfer 2009) [29]
ICC: Initial continuous current, ICCRS: ICC followed by one or more return strokes (RS),
ICCp:: ICC not followed by any RS but with one or more ICC pulse > 2kA,
ICConly: ICC not followed by any RS and no ICC pulse > 2kA occurred
Figure 17: Cumulative frequency distribution of total charge for all negative
upward flashes for the four seasons at the GBT (2000-2007) (G. Diendorfer 2009)
[29]
It is worth noting that positive flashes recently observed on the Säntis Tower in Switzerland, were characterized by
important amount of transferred charge, with a median value of 169 C. Eight flashes out of 30 transported positive
charge to the ground in excess of 500 C [28]
Page 18
Gaisberg tower (GBT) with a height of 100 m is located at the top of a small mountain Gaisberg (the top is 1287 m
above sea level). The cumulative distribution of the charge transferred by negative upward flashes is shown in
Figure 16 and Figure 17. The data show that the ratio of lightning which transfers more than 300 C is about 1 %.
(3) Summarization
To summarize the above discussion, the following description can be clarified.
1) Lightning, which occurs along the coast of the Sea of Japan, transfers larger amounts of charges than
those by usual summer lightning. This can also occur in other regions of the world such as mid latitude
where cold airmass thunderstorms frequently occur.
2) In the case of summer lightning, negative flashes and bipolar flashes initiated by upward leaders from tall
structures and positive flashes transfer larger amounts of charges than those by usual summer lightning.
4.4 Concentration of lightning on selected wind turbines in a wind park

There are fifteen wind turbines in Nikaho wind park, which is located in Akita prefecture of Japan and facing the
coast of the Sea of Japan. Still camera observation of them showed that 99 lightning hits to wind turbines. There is
an uneven distribution of the number of lightning hits on the wind turbines as shown in Figure18. Wind turbines,
which are located at the end of a wind turbine line or facing the coast, are more often hit by lightning. It is
important information when we estimate the effect of isolating lightning protection towers or total lightning risk for a
wind park.
Lightning frequency by photo observation from 2005 to 2011
No. of lightning strikes in Nikaho WF
40
35
30
FY2011
25
Frequency
FY2010
20
15 FY2009
10 FY2008
5 FY2007
0 FY2006
#1
#2
#3
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#4
#14
FY2005
WTG
Target of photo observation #1 - #14 WTG

(#15WTG is not covered)
Frequency from 2005 is 118, 22, 9, 41, 28, 11, 7
No. of strikes to #1, #4, #14 WTG is larger
Red: >20Times No. of strikes to #5, #6, #7 WTG is less
Yellow: 10-19Times
Green: <10Times More flashes strike to both ends and ocean side WTGs
Figure18: Result of lightning observation at Nikaho wind park [14]

(WTG: Wind turbine generator)
Page 19
4.5 Characteristics of winter lightning (upward leader) and damage manner

In Japan, especially along the coast of the Sea of Japan, many wind turbine blades have suffered from severe
lightning damage. Winter lightning is special in that a lightning stroke is initiated by an upward leader from an
earthed structure and the lightning current is likely to have long duration of more than several tens of milliseconds.
These characteristics give important effects upon the damages of wind turbine blades.
(1) Upward leader; concentration of lightning strokes to a wind turbine

(2) Large energy of lightning current; rupture or combustion of a blade, melting of a receptor
(3) Increased occurrence of lightning with positive polarity; increase of unexpected discharge attachment to
the insulated part of a blade as shown in Chapter 5.
Page 20
Chapter 5. Experiments on Lightning Attachment to a Blade

If observation of actual lightning can perfectly clarify the attachment manner of lightning to a blade, we could decide
protection measures of blades from lightning attachment without any experiment. Observation results showed that
we can define the stricken blade but cannot define the exact attachment point on the surface of a blade because of
the resolution ability of a camera. So, high-voltage tests were done using a high voltage generator in order to get
the information related to the probable lightning attachment point [30-36].
5.1 Summarization of high voltage test in Shiobara testing yard of CRIEPI for
determining lightning attachment point
Lightning attachment manner to wind turbine blades was investigated by using a 12MV high voltage impulse
generator at Shiobara testing yard of Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (see Figure19). The
standardized high voltage test methods will be shown in posterior Paragraph 5.2. In this experiment a different
method was used in order to get hints of abnormal attachment manner of lightning discharges to a blade, that is, a
rod electrode was used for upper high-voltage one instead of a flat plate. What shape of an electrode should be
used is thought to depend upon the electric field aspect around a blade just before the attachment of lightning to a
blade. It is difficult to select the appropriate method for high-voltage experiments to clarify the discharge attachment
manner to an actual blade. Yokoyama gave the related information in Ref. [37].
Figure 19: High voltage impulse generator of Shiobara testing yard of CRIEPI
5.1.1 Method of high voltage tests at Shiobara testing yard

Three-meter long blade-sample, which is the top part of an actual twelve-meter long wind turbine blade made of
GFRP (glass fiber reinforced plastics), was used as the experimental specimen. The blade-sample was fixed
vertically on a wooden foundation, and a gap length between an electrode and the tip of the blade-sample was set
to four meters. It is a characteristic of this experiment to use a rod electrode for the upper high voltage electrode
instead of a flat plate electrode recommended in Annex D of IEC61400-24:2010 [5].
Page 21
5.1.2 Invasion of discharge into a cavity of a blade

In some cases a discharge from the upper electrode attached to the surface of the insulation shell of a blade and
intruded into the blade cavity (see Figure 20). A GFRP is a good material from the viewpoint of mechanical strength
but it is not good material from the viewpoint of dielectric strength.
Figure 20: Invasion of discharge into a cavity of a wind turbine blade
If a discharge intrudes into the cavity of a blade, the arc of lightning current exists inside the cavity. The
temperature of the arc is very high resulting in the increase of air pressure in the cavity of a blade. This high air
pressure leads a blade to instantaneous rupture and potential falling to the ground as shown in Figures.1 and 3.
For a blade without receptors it is easy for a discharge to intrude the cavity of a blade. Even for a blade with
receptors, experiments showed that discharges possibly intrude into the cavity of a blade depending upon the
azimuth angle of a blade and a discharge progressing direction. Many damages has been seen where lightning
strike broke the shell of the blade tip and reached the down conductor within a few centimeters from the receptor
instead of attaching to the receptor.
But it is not clarified whether the above phenomenon occurs for actual lightning or not. Above experimental results
show the possibility of this phenomenon.
5.1.3 Tearing of a blade surface

Lightning current is assumed to pass along a blade surface and heat up it. Small tearing on the surface is probably
produced and it is enlarged by the rotation of a blade. High voltage experiments clarified the various manners of
tearing on a blade surface (see Figure 21 and Figure 22). As the tearing was produced experimentally by the small
energy of an impulse generator, the charge of which is typically only 0.2C, damages of a blade surface can be
produced easily by an actual lightning, the peak value and the C value of which are very large.
Page 22
Figure 21: Tearing of a blade surface with a single receptor
Figure 22: Attachment manner of discharge to a blade with a metal-cap receptor
5.1.4 Effect of the polarity of lightning discharge

Experimental results showed that discharges from an upper rod applied by a high voltage of positive polarity
damaged a blade more seriously than those from an upper rod applied by one of negative polarity [30]. The reason
is that positive high voltage applied to an electrode is easy to progress in air to the ground. If a negative high
voltage is applied to an upper rod electrode, the blade side is the positive one and a leader is easy to initiate from a
receptor and the discharge is easily caught by a receptor. On the other hand, if a positive high-voltage is applied to
the rod electrode, a leader is not easy to initiate from a receptor and the discharge is apt to attach to the dielectric
surface of a blade.
Page 23
Winter lightning along the coast of the Sea of Japan contains more positive flashes than usual summer lightning
[16]. From this point of view, winter lightning may be more dangerous to wind turbine blades than summer lightning
[38].
5.1.5 Effect of the thickness of a blade shell

Invasion of discharges into a blade cavity is more likely to occur at the trailing edge as compared to the leading
edge [30].
Under the condition of a horizontally configured blade above the ground, impulse voltages were applied to the
upper electrode. In the case that a thin trailing edge faced the electrode, discharges were apt to invade into the
cavity of a blade. On the other hand, in the case that a thick leading edge faced the electrode, discharges were apt
to spark over the insulation surface of a blade. A fact that a thick leading edge was damaged less than a thin
trailing edge gives a valuable suggestion that a better insulation material possibly reduces the damage of a blade.
5.2 The standardized high voltage tests on the effect of lightning protection
system for blades
The IEC 61400-24:2010 standard, in its informative annex D, describes high voltage tests intended for the
evaluation of the lightning protection system of a wind turbine blade. These tests were basically adapted from the
already defined test in aircraft standards such as EUROCAE ED-105.
The aim of the high-voltage strike attachment tests presented in the IEC standard is to determine specific lightning
attachment points and breakdown paths in blades and other components such as nacelles and spinners. As
indicated, the test can be used to assess:
 Location of possible leader attachment points

 Optimization of the location of protection devices (receptors)
 Flashover or puncture paths along or through dielectric surfaces
 Performance of protection devices
It is suggested that the sample test shall include all the real components and be furnished with the same
procedures as full blades. Sections of several meters of real blades (i.e. 6 m of blade tip section) would be the best
option.
5.2.1 Test setups

Three test arrangements are presented. Test Setup A and B are intended for testing complete blades whereas test
Setup C is for skin panel and diverter strip configurations. Each test arrangement is intended to result in the
inception of electrical activity (i.e. corona, streamers, leaders) at the test specimen and not at the external electrode.
The test are designed to incept streamers and leaders from the blade and to progress toward an opposite electrode
which is to be a large geometry shape intended to represent an electric field equipotential surface at some distance
from the blade extremity. Figure 23 displays the test Setup A where the blade is suspended over the ground plane
sufficiently large. The lightning protection system of the blade is connected to the high voltage output of a Marx
generator. The blade should normally be tested in several orientations, to represent the electric field directions in
real field conditions. The suggested orientations are three different angles of the blade relative to the horizontal
ground plane. These angles are 90°, 60° and 30°. For each angle four pitch angles are tested. Figure 24 presents
the possible orientations.
The standard suggests that long blades should usually be tested with the specimen at 5° and 10° from the
horizontal. This represents the greater possibility of lightning leaders inboard of the blade tip while the blade
happens to be in the horizontal position.
Page 24
As indicated in Figure 23, connection of the leaders should occur in the lower part of the air gap between the
energized blade and the ground plane (i.e. in the lower half of the gap). Moreover leaders from the ground must not
originate from the edge of the ground plane.
Figure 23: Test Setup A for initial leader attachment test (adopted from IEC 61400-
24:2010) [5]
Figure 24: Possible orientations for the initial leader attachment test in Test Setup
A (adopted from IEC 61400-24:2010) [5]
The second test geometry is achieved by keeping the blade stand vertically on and connected to the ground under
a high voltage electrode. This Test Setup B is depicted in Figure 25. The high voltage electrode above the blade
Page 25
must have large diameter in order to avoid electric field intensification at the edges. Clearance distances are
indicated in the figure. In Test Setup B the blade should normally be tested in two or more orientations. In this
arrangement leader connection needs to occur near the center of electrode and not happen at the edges.
Figure 25: Test Setup B for initial leader attachment test (adopted from IEC 61400-
24:2010)[5].
5.2.2 Voltage waveforms

The used voltage waveform is the defined switching impulse (IEC 60060-1) [39] with time to peak of 250 µs (±20%)
and decay time to half value of 2500 µs (±60%). The flashover should occur before the peak of the waveform but
later than 50 µs.
5.2.3 Measurements, procedure and data interpretation

In addition to voltage and environmental measurements during the test, photographic records are useful data.
Photographic images of streamer, leaders and flashover outside and inside the blade must be gathered. The
punctures and breakdown paths should be identified.
At least three discharges of each polarity and each orientation should be applied. The number of discharges to a
test sample should not exceed approximately 100 discharges to avoid damage due to electrical aging.
The standard suggests that tests may be conducted on polluted and wetted blade specimens. Specially polluted or
wet interior surfaces may be considered if such conditions are believed to exist in the field.
Although data interpretation is difficult, tested blades should undergo a thorough post-test evaluation to determine
the adequacy of the design with respect to the pass/fail criteria.
Page 26
5.2.4. Discussion of the standardized tests

Since test data is basically photography of blade attachment points and streamer/leader inceptions, special care
must be taken. Streamers and leaders in air at ground pressure have strong emissions in the blue [40]. Thus,
cameras sensitive to UV are convenient for this type of tests. What is visible in pictures will depend on the spectra
response of the camera and lens as well the aperture and sensitivity. Common cameras would only be able to pick
breakdowns and visible leaders. Therefore, two laboratories with different imaging capabilities would report very
different pictures (see Figure 26). The standard does not define the imaging instruments.
Related to the test positions, observation results as shown in Paragraph 4.2 showed that the majority of lightning
flashes attached to the tip region of the blade (88%) whereas the remaining strikes attached to the receptor 5 m
inboard the tip [5]. A more recent study of winter lightning to 90 m height wind turbines in Japan [22] showed that
the majority of the strikes occur for blade angles between –60º to 30º according to Figure 13. However, few
impacts also occur for horizontal (90º).
a) b)
Figure 26: a) Picture of breakdown and leaders with a common reflex camera.
b) UV picture of leader/streamers of a horizontal energized blade.
Field observations suggest that special care must be taken for test orientations in Figure 24. Test results with lower
angles (5º and 10º) defined [5] with occurrence of inboard breakdowns must be specially interpreted since these
results may not be realistic.
In summary, the standardized tests provide a very useful tool in order to study the lightning attachment manner to a
blade. However, evaluation of them compared with the experience in the field is necessary after some years of
testing experience with the IEC standard.
Page 27
Chapter 6.High-current Test of Wind Turbine Blades

High voltage tests show that lightning discharges may invade into the inner cavity between two shells of a blade.
The arc inside a cavity increases air pressure resulting in the rupture of a blade. Moreover, a receptor may melt
when lightning attaches to a receptor, if the lightning current has much energy. As these damages are caused by
large electric charge, we tested the effect of the charge amount on the damage mechanism using a high current
generator belonging to CRIEPI.
General test method is described in IEC61400-24 Annex D [5] .
6.1 Test methods

The top of three meters of an actual blade was used for the high current test. Figure 27 shows the layout of the
blade and the other facilities for the test. In order to introduce the discharge into the inner cavity of a blade, a thin
cupper wire was used for the expected discharge path.
Some water was contained inside the blade in order to investigate the effect of water upon the break manner of a
blade.
Current Path
Arc
Blade
Figure 27: Layout of facilities for large current test.
6.2 Summarization of a high current test for determining the cause of damages
High current tests showed the following items [41-42].
(1) Electric charge over 300 C can break a blade due to the pressure of the air expanded by the heat of
lightning discharge arc which intrudes into the cavity between two shells of a blade.
(2) Even lightning current with charge over 1000Cs does not damage a blade with a large round receptor and
a down conductor.
(3) In some cases, the damage may be larger for a blade containing water than one containing no water.
Page 28
6.3 Electromechanical forces coming from the peak current

IEC 61400-24 (Annex D3.4) [5] stipulates the “Conducted current test”. The purpose of the test is to assess
・ lightning current conducting abilities

・ temperature rises in conductors and connections
・ arcing and sparking in various connection components
・ magnetic force effects etc.
Although electromechanical forces may be have some effects upon the manner of damages of wind turbine blades,
actual effects of them are not sufficiently clarified. We should be careful of the effects due to electromechanical
forces, when we investigate the mechanism of damages. More researches are necessary to clarify the relation
between the peak current and damages of wind turbine blades.
Page 29
Chapter 7. Mechanism of Blade Damages

Damage aspects, lightning phenomena, and experimental results of high voltage and high current tests were
shown in the preceding chapters successively. By summarizing those the mechanisms of blade damages can be
assessed.
Not only lightning with the large amount of electric charge but also that with small amount of electric charge can be
the cause of damages of wind turbine blades.
Possible causes for various levels of damages shown in Table 4 are as follows.
7.1 Blade rupture and falling to the ground, blade burnout (Type (1a) and (1b) on
Table 4)
(1) Blades without receptors
The mechanism of the damage of a blade, which is not equipped with lightning protection receptors, is
explained as follows. A lightning discharge runs along the blade surface and/or through the inside of the blade
before it reaches the hub, because the dielectric constant of a blade is much larger than that of air. As shown
in a typical result of a high-voltage test (Fig.20) [30], a discharge invades into the blade cavity after lightning
attached the blade. If the lightning current continues to flow for a long time, the gas pressure inside the blade
becomes large due to an expanding air volume and/or water evaporation caused by high temperature arc
resulting in a sudden rupture of a blade.
Phenomena of blade rupturing have also been studied by high current (high energy) tests shown in Chapter 6.
A high current test [41] clarified that lightning with electric charge of more than 300 C breaks a blade when
lightning discharge intrudes into the blade cavity.
Blades without lightning protection receptors are nowadays limited to low power wind turbines (up to few kW).
(2) Blades with lightning protection receptors
As shown in Paragraph 5.1, even for blades with lightning protection receptors there is some possibility of
invasion of a lightning discharge inside a blade cavity depending upon a blade azimuth and the discharge
progressing angle. But this possibility is small.
7.2 Wire melting (Type (1c) on Table 4)

Wire melting due to the specific energy of passing current in a down conductor occurs rarely. Wire melting was
caused at the imperfect connecting point where ohmic resistance is large compared to the other part of a conductor.
Wire melting occurred frequently on blades with tip brakes for small- size wind turbine blades made before 2000,
but it is not relevant for a modern MW-class wind turbines, as such turbines tend to have full-span blade pitch
control .
7.3 Cracking along glued blade shell edge, Tearing at blade edge, Surface stripping
(Type (2a), (2b) and (3a) on Table 4)
(1) Blade without receptors
In blades without lightning protection receptor(s) or other metal parts, surface tearing has occurred very frequently.
It possibly results in further damages leading to a catastrophic event such as blade separation.
Page 30
Cracking along the glued blade shell edge is produced easily because lightning discharge sparks over blade shell
edges, which are contaminated with salt or other contaminants. Also the sticking part is mechanically weak. A
sticking part is heated due to invasion or passing of lightning current, resulting in tearing of a blade surface. Not
only the affected part but also the flat part of a blade is damaged by passing of lightning current on it, resulting in
tearing at the blade edge or the surface stripping.
High-voltage tests showed that a small lightning current can damage the surface of a blade. Typical electric
charge applied to a test piece was only about 1/50 of values corresponding to actual lightning discharges. It is
therefore considered that actual lightning can damage blade surfaces quite easily.
(2) Blades with receptors
A. For a blade with a lightning protection receptor except for the blade tip
Surface tearing possibly occurs by following mechanisms.
 Lightning discharge grazes the surface of the top part of a blade, when it attaches to a receptor (see
Figure 21).
 At the first stage lightning discharge does not graze the surface of a blade, but a strong wind blows the
arc of lightning discharge with multiple strokes or long continuing current to the insulation surface of a
blade.
 At the first stage the lightning discharge does not graze the surface of a blade, but the arc of lightning
discharge with multiple strokes or long continuing current slides on the insulation surface accompanying
the rotation of a blade.
B. For a blade with a receptor at the blade tip
Surface tearing possibly occurs by the following mechanisms.
 Lightning discharge grazes the surface, when it attached to a tip receptor (see Figure 22). But this
phenomenon is thought to be rare for actual lightning.
 At the first stage the lightning discharge does not graze the surface of a blade, but a strong wind blows
the arc of lightning discharge with multiple strokes or long continuing current to the insulation surface of
a blade.
 At the first stage the lightning discharge does not graze the surface of a blade, but the arc of lightning
discharge with multiple strokes or long continuing current slides on the insulation surface accompanying
the rotation of a blade.
7.4 Receptor loss, Receptor vaporization (Type (3b) and (4a) on Table 4)
Large current experiment showed that the melted volume of metal material depends upon coulomb value (time
integral of the current) basically. Sometimes receptors are blown off from a blade. Four reasons are possible. The
first is the overheating of a receptor itself. The second is high air pressure in a blade cavity, which is produced by a
long arc inside a blade cavity. The third is bad connection between a receptor and a down conductor. The last is
the electromagnetic force the receptors are exposed to. Electro mechanical forces, coming from the high current ,
may be one of causes of this type of damage, but the actual effect of them have not been sufficiently studied so far.
7.5 Surface scorching, other minor damages (Type (4b) and (4c) on Table 4)
Rotation of a blade or strong wind scatters melting metal on the surface of a blade or arc jet blows vaporized metal
off around the receptor.
Sporadic chars are thought to be the same as those on an airplane. Multiple strokes and movement of the arc
attachment point due to wind speed /blade rotation are estimated to be the causes of sporadic chars.
Page 31
Chapter 8. Lightning Protection Methods of Wind Turbine Blades

Lightning protection methods for wind turbine blades are proposed based on the researches done so far.
8.1 Blades with lightning protection receptors

(1) It is better to install lightning protection receptors on a blade surface so that the damage of blade rupture
or surface tearing can be reduced more effectively.
The most common measure is to install receptors on blade surfaces and a down conductor inside the
cavity of the blade. Receptors attract lightning discharges and a down conductor leads the lightning current
safely to the root end of the blade and onward to the earthed structure of the wind turbine. Serious blade
damages can be mitigated by this method.
“Serious” damages may occur even for blades with adequate countermeasures, when the blade would be
hit by lightning with over 600 C. One of the countermeasures is to add a metal-cap receptor on the tip
edge of each blade. The case of Figure 8 is a good example. Only vaporization of a metal cap receptor
occurred as shown in Figure 8, while the events in Figure 4 occurred before installing the countermeasure
in the same site.
(2) Arrangement of receptors; Damages are concentrated in the last few meters from the tip of a blade and
damages are rare in the root part of a blade. So basically receptors should be installed close to the tip part
of a blade.
(3) Position of a down conductor, two different methods should be examined according to the following views.
・ In order to shorten the arc length inside a blade cavity, it is thought to be better to install a down
conductor close to a trailing edge.
・ From the point of prevention of discharge invasion inside a blade cavity, it may however be better
to install a down conductor away from a trailing edge.
8.2 Prevention of melting or loss of receptors / heating and cut of lightning down-
conductors
Sufficient mass of receptors or large diameter of a down-conductor can protect them from the heat due to passing
lightning current. Large diameter of a down-conductor increases the capacity against the specific energy of a
lightning current.
8.3 Capture of lightning by isolated lightning protection towers

Lightning can be caught by isolated lightning protection towers, which are constructed near to target wind turbines.
However in most of wind parks this is not a suitable solution since multiple towers would be requested.
It is effective to some extent to construct an isolated lightning protection tower on the windward side of a wind
turbine, if the direction of the wind is comparatively constant. The statistics of lightning strokes to wind turbines of
the Nikaho wind park in Japan shown in the paragraph 4.4 is a good example of the concentration of lightning
strikes on few wind turbines in a wind park. Sakata et al. show detailed research results relevant to the effect of an
isolated lightning protection tower [43]. The cost performance of installing isolated lightning protection towers
should be taken into account.
8.4 Schematic diagram on possible causes of damage aspects, and

countermeasures for lightning
Page 32
In summary the above discussions including classification of damage aspects due to lightning, possible causes and
countermeasures in lightning protection, a schematic diagram can be drawn up as shown in Figure 28 that offers
protocols covering the various issues associated with an assessment of lightning problems in wind turbines.
In this figure, the entries in the three columns headed by damage aspects, possible causes, and countermeasures
are to be read sequentially from left to right as in a flowchart following the interconnecting links. Subheadings below
each heading are ordered depending upon severity in damage, possible causes, and level of countermeasures
needed. For example, if a wind turbine experiences a catastrophic rupture, it is best to suppose absence of or
inadequacy of countermeasures and therefore the correct response required to protect the blade falls within actions
advised in “Scheme A”. Similarly, in cases of minor or normal damage after a correct assessment has been taken,
possible causes and additional countermeasures can then be determined as shown in “Scheme B”. Note that there
are no perfect measures to prevent all types of lightning damage. Even if full measures are taken, it is impossible to
preclude the possibility of lightning strikes to turbine blades. The problem whether additional measures should be
taken is a matter for risk management (see Chapter 9).
Damage Aspects Possible Causes Countermeasures
(1) Catastrophic damages

requiring immediate turbine shutdown I. Lack or inadequation countermeasures A. Replacement of blades with
receptors and down conductors
Scheme A
(1a) Blade rupturing (I-1) No receptor(s)
B. Quality management of blades
(1b) Blade burnout (I-2) Water evaporation and gas expansion
C. Replacement of blades with
(1c) Wire melting (I-3) Existence of a wire for tip brake full-span pitch control
(2) Serious damages

requiring immediate repair
(2a) Surace cracking
(2b) Surface tearing
Additional countermeasures …
(3) Normal damages
requring repair as soon as possible
II. Attachment manner III. Environmental
Scheme B
(3a) Surface stripping of discharges factors
(3b) Receptor loss (II-1) Discharge (III-1) Water D. Structural reinforcement of blade
arcing over to blade absorption and
condensation
(4) Minor damages inside a blade
not requring immediate repair (II-2) Direct strike
through receptor
(4a) Receptor vaporisation
(4b) Surface scorching (II-3) Surface (III-2) Salt E. Installation of

discharge along contamination on independent lightning tower(s)
(4c) Other minor damages blade surface blade surface
Need of Risk Management
Figure 28: Schematic diagram of relationship between damage aspects and their
countermeasures.
Page 33
Chapter 9. Lightning Risk Management of Wind Turbine Blades

Fundamental lightning risk assessment of wind turbines is given in IEC 61400-24:2010 (Chapter 7 and Annex B) [5].
In this chapter the additional matters, which are thought to be important for a better protection design of wind
turbine blades, are explained.
9.1 Lightning Risk Management relevant to a blade damage

When designing lightning protection measures for wind turbine blades, it is necessary to consider not only the
reduction of outages but also cost performance of protection measures. It is not the same method to be applied for
the areas where the rate of damaged blades is 10% a year and the area where the rate of them is 1 %. If the
average loss of money due to damages of wind turbines is smaller than the cost of protection, it is beneficial not to
take a protection measure.
When we consider risk assessment, we should take the safety of persons into consideration in addition to
economical loss due to damages. From this point of view, protection level and methods should be different
between the region of large population density and small one. Rupture and/or falling to the ground of a wind turbine
blade is crucial, on the other hand small damages may be treated by periodical maintenance.
9.2 Effects of the rotation of a blade

Figure12 shows the effect of wind speed and the rotation speed of a blade on the attachment manner of multiple
strokes to a blade. As shown in paragraph 4.2 a blade tip moves several meters in the forward direction in
accordance with the time interval of multiple strokes or duration of continuous current.
In relation to lightning triggered by a rocket, lightning was likely to be triggered at the moment that the rocket
passed through an electric charge layer over the ground. A high-speed rotating blade of a tall wind turbine possibly
has similar characteristics to a rocket. Wang et al. proposed that a rotating blade tends to have a chance of
initiating an upward leader [44]. This has been recently confirmed by Montanya et al. [23].
Rotation of a blade may scatter broken pieces of a blade after attachment of lightning discharge to it. Depending
upon the environmental condition such broken pieces may attack persons.
From the point of risk management, operation of a wind turbine may be stopped while a thunderstorm is active
around the wind turbine, but for a wind turbine with effective lightning protection of blades this operation is not
necessary.
9.3 Maintenance of a blade

Under some conditions the cost of early maintenance after lightning strike may be cheaper than the construction of
preventive measures. It is also very important to improve maintenance efficiency.
9.4 Relevant lightning protection measures for wind turbines

Damage to a control circuit or power system due to lightning may result in the disability of a blade control system. It
is important to reduce outages of a control system as well as to guarantee normal rotating condition of blades.
As grounding resistance plays an important role to protect a wind turbine from insulation break of a control circuit or
SPD damages, it is necessary to consider how to decide the grounding resistance.
9.5 Summary
There can be various degrees of damages to wind turbine blades due to lightning as shown in the previous
chapters. The upper half of Table 8 is a summary of the above-discussed aspects. As it is essentially impossible to
avoid all of the damages due to lightning, what we shall do is to consider risk management.
Page 34
(2) Serious (3) Normal

(1) Catastrophic damage (4) Minor damage
damage damage
(2a) Cracking along blade shell
including peeling of paint, local

Damage aspects
(4a) Receptor vaporization

(2b) Tearing at blade edge
(4d) Other minor damages

(4b) Surface scorching
(3a) Surface stripping
(1a) Blade rupturing
(1b) Blade burnout
(3b) Receptor loss
stain, pinhole etc.

(1c) Wire melting
edge
heavy lightning energy       
Environmental factors
water evaporation
  
inside blade
surface contamination
    
with sea salt etc.
discharge piercing
Attachment manner of
   
through blade shell
Possible causes
discharge
direct strike through

 
receptor
surface discharge along

    
blade surface
lack (or shortage) of

    
design/installation
receptor(s) on the blade

issue
poor material and/or

  
production of the blade
existence of a wire for

 
tip brake
possibility of human
damage due to broken very likely likely almost no no
substances
necessity of blade
yes sometimes yes almost no no
replacement
crane or temporary scaffold or
possible engineering special crane for gondola
vehicle-mounted manned access by
(qualitatively estimated)
methodology blade replacement or crane

aerial platform climbing rope
Risk management
repairing person
blade local constructor local constructor or
(relating on personal blade manufacturer
manufacturer or vessel repairer maintenance staff on site
and travel expense)
total cost for repairing very high high medium low
cost for loss of almost none

very high high low
generation (repairable on
(several months) (several weeks) (several days)
(time for repairing) periodic inspection)
relatively rare
normally rare
probability of event (depend upon medium frequent
(depend upon location)
location)
cost for proactive
very high medium to high none to medium none to low
countermeasures
Table no.8: Classification of damage aspects and their related causes

and risk managements.
Page 35
In the areas exposed to severe lightning, it is strictly needed to take proactive countermeasures including blade
replacement to prevent possible “catastrophic” damages.
In any case, the optimal countermeasure should be carefully considered from the viewpoint of cost-benefit analysis.
As summarized in the lower half of Table 8, probability of the “catastrophic” and “serious” events would depend
upon the local meteorology and geography, while the possible cost for repairing and loss of generation might be
determined by maintenance structure and supply chain in the local industries, and so on. One of the possible
strategies against “normal” and “minor” damages could not be to completely avoid such damages with expensive
proactive measures but to make effort to reduce repairing cost with adequate maintenance scheme and supply
chain at the local site.
Page 36
Chapter 10. Future Research Projects

Although many researches have been done related to lightning damages of wind turbine blades, many items are
still left to be solved for better lightning protection measures for wind turbine blades.
Important research items are shown as follows;
(1) Investigation of other areas in the world where lightning characteristics is similar to those along the coast
of the Sea of Japan or of Mediterranean and Nord Sea in winter season. Application of the data on
winter lightning characteristics to regulations of international standards such as IEC should be proposed.
In addition, lightning characteristics in the tropics may be something different [45]. Effects of the tropical
lightning characteristics on the outages of wind turbine blades should be investigated.
(2) For precise determination of lightning attachment point, effective optical observation methods should be
developed.
(3) Clarification on relation between actual lightning and long discharge experiments in the laboratory;
evaluation of proposed attachment test methods in IEC 61400-24: 2010 [5].
(4) Study on the effect of contamination condition of a blade surface on lightning attachment manner
especially for the blades of offshore wind turbines [46].
(5) Development and application of new materials with better insulation characteristics; composition of
conventional FRP and a coating made of the material of better insulation. Study on the effect of using
carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) in blades. Blades with CFRP are very sensitive to direct strike to
them.
(6) Study on the effect of isolated lightning protection towers for a wind park; verification of existing theories
through field experiences for summer lightning as well as winter lightning, designing methods such as
the number, the location and the height of isolated lightning towers.
(7) Clarification on the effects of a blade rotation upon the frequency of lightning strokes.
(8) Establishment of a lightning risk management method for wind turbine blades including the development
of an effective detection method of damaged blades and that of an effective maintenance method.
(9) Study on the effect of conducting high energy of a lightning pulse current on connective structural
components, which is regulated in IEC 61400-24:2010 [5].
Page 37
Chapter 11. Conclusion

Blade damages are the most serious ones of a wind turbine generator. Many researches, such as
investigation of damages, lightning observation, high voltage tests and high current tests, have been
extensively done for the last ten years or so in order to clarify the mechanism of blade damages and establish
better protection methods for blades.
In this report, we summarized the results of the above-mentioned researches and estimated the possible
causes of blade damages. Moreover we proposed lightning protection measures for wind turbine blades,
which are thought to be the best at present.
Main results are as follows;
(1) Damages of wind turbine blades were investigated and classified by the level of severity of
damages.
(2) Camera observation clarified the attachment manner of lightning to a blade including a rotating
blade. The possibility of movement of the attachment point due to the rotation of a blade and long
duration of a lightning current was indicated.
(3) High voltage experiments showed the possibility of blade damages including the invasion of
lightning discharges into the cavity of a blade and a scratch on an insulation surface of a blade with
receptors.
(4) High current experiments clarified the amount of electric charge, which can rupture a blade due to
the pressure of swelling air.
(5) Summarizing the above results, the mechanisms of blade damages were assessed. Not only
lightning discharges with large amount of electric charges, but also those with small amount of
electric charges can damage a blade. Lightning with small charge can make a tear on the surface
of a blade and a tear can be enlarged with the rotation of a blade. A blade receptor melts due to
large amount of electric charges.
(6) From a wider standpoint of lightning protection for a blade, lightning risk management is also
important in addition to individual protection measures. The effect of nearby wind turbines or
isolated lightning protection towers should be considered.
It is still necessary to investigate the causes of individual damage of wind turbine blades and propose better
protective measures. If the damage type is a rare event and it is not thought to occur frequently hereafter, it
may be one method that no protection measure is provided from the viewpoint of appropriate lightning risk
management.
We should clarify the validity of a long gap discharge test in the laboratory as the simulation of actual lightning
attachment. It leads to establishing appropriate test methods for the clarification of the validity of lighting
protection measures of wind turbine blades.
Page 38
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Lightning Protection of Wind Turbine Blades

Lightning protection of wind

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 5

Chapter 7. Mechanism of Blade Damages .................................................................. 30

A summary of the results presented in this document is as follows:

Chapter 2 Outage Statistics of Wind Turbine Blades

2.1 Statistics of lightning outages in Europe

Germany 1991-1998 1498 352 9204 738 8,0

Table no. 1: Lightning damage frequency [6]

Faults per Direct Indirect

Coastal 616 178 4018 223 5,6 34,1 % 65,9 %

Table no. 2: Regional effect on lightning damage (Germany) [6]

No tip brake 901 43 4,8 0,3 2,2 1,3 0,9

Total 1487 86 5,8 0,4 2,6 1,7 1,0

Table no. 3: Lightning fault summary (Sweden) [6]

2.2 Statistics of lightning outages in Japan

Chapter 3 Types of Blade Damages

Levels (and sub-categories) of damages example

Table no. 4: Proposed classification of blade damage [11]

Figure 1: A case of fallen Figure 2: A case of (1b) Figure 3: A case of (1b)

Figure 4: A case of (2a) Figure 5: A case of (2b) Figure 6: A case of (3a)

Figure 7: A case of (3b) Figure 8: A case of (4a) Figure 9: A case of (4b)

Figure 10: A case of peeling

(1) Catastrophic damage requiring immediate turbine shutdown

(2) Serious damage requiring immediate repair

(3) Normal damage requiring repair as soon as possible

(4) Minor damage not requiring immediate repair

Chapter 4 Lightning Phenomena in Relation to Damages of Wind

(1) Number of lightning flashes by a downward leader

ND = Ng ×Ad × Cd × 10-6 [ /year] (4.1)

where Ng: Ground flash density [/km2/year]

The number of lightning flashes to a structure = Ratio of lightning stroke × N

Ratio of lightning stroke = 0.11 × height of a structure (4.3)

where N: Lightning flash density measured

4.2 Lightning attachment manner recorded by a still camera

Figure 11: Lightning discharge on a stationary blade

Figure 12: Lightning discharge on a rotating blade

Figure 13: a) Distribution of attachment angles; b) Example of a blade position for

4.3 Observation of lightning current

Year Number of Samples Q > 300C Max

Table no.5: Occurrence of lightning with large amounts of charges in winter in

Figure 15: Locations of observation sites

(1) Observations of lightning currents in Japan

(2) Observations of lightning currents in Switzerland

95% 50% 5% Probability: Q > 300 C

90% 50% 10% Probability: Q > 300 C

4.4 Concentration of lightning on selected wind turbines in a wind park

Lightning frequency by photo observation from 2005 to 2011

No. of lightning strikes in Nikaho WF

Target of photo observation #1 - #14 WTG

Figure18: Result of lightning observation at Nikaho wind park [14]

4.5 Characteristics of winter lightning (upward leader) and damage manner

(1) Upward leader; concentration of lightning strokes to a wind turbine

Chapter 5. Experiments on Lightning Attachment to a Blade

5.1.1 Method of high voltage tests at Shiobara testing yard

5.1.2 Invasion of discharge into a cavity of a blade

Figure 20: Invasion of discharge into a cavity of a wind turbine blade

5.1.3 Tearing of a blade surface

Figure 21: Tearing of a blade surface with a single receptor

Figure 22: Attachment manner of discharge to a blade with a metal-cap receptor

5.1.4 Effect of the polarity of lightning discharge

5.1.5 Effect of the thickness of a blade shell

 Location of possible leader attachment points