Engineering design and modelling from the world’s leading experts in lightning protection
The need for specialist engineering skills in Lightning Protection System design has increased sharply in recent years.
There are three principal reasons for this:
- Wind turbines (and thus turbine blades) are becoming bigger and bigger.
- Wind turbines are increasingly being erected on sites with extreme weather conditions.
- New blades now contain more current-carrying materials, conductive materials, and sensors.
With regard to the last of these three points, the issue largely has to do with the increasing use of carbon fiber in the blades, along with the fact that new solutions – for de-icing, for instance – have made lightning protection for turbine blades even more complex.
Key questions
We carry out complete design assignments in the fields of lightning protection and overvoltage protection in line with your wishes and requirements – and in compliance with the latest standards and guidelines.
Today, many blade manufacturers commission our expertise in the earliest phases of their innovation and development work, which means we are often asked to supply – or contribute to – the answers to key questions such as:
- What should we pay special attention to as regards lightning?
- How often will our blades be struck?
- Which points on a wind turbine are most likely to be struck?
- How can we minimize the risk?
- How should we design the components that connect the lightning protection system to the carbon fiber struts in the blades?
- How should we formulate the test specifications?
- How do we ensure a robust system and at the same time minimize our total cost?
Documentation for certification
Our expertise in lightning is also often brought into play when manufacturers of generic sub-components for blades and electrical systems wish to have a new product verified with a view to component certification.
In such cases, we provide more than “just” design- and engineering-related sparring, in that we offer to handle all the administrative work linked to a certification process of this kind on behalf of the customer.
International development environment
Following the acquisition of Global Lightning Protection Services A/S (GLPS) in 2018, we have strengthened our position as the market leader in the field of lightning and overvoltage protection of wind turbines.
Bringing engineering design and production together has added whole new dimensions to our engineering services. It has opened up unmatched opportunities to validate the development work and innovation as the process progresses – through prototypes and accredited tests, for example.