A techno-economical guideline for the optimal location of surge arresters in MV overhead systems for lightning protection

Lightning strikes represent one of the major issues for medium voltage power systems. The protection of overhead distribution systems from lightning discharges may require the installation of surge arresters on the system poles, which ensure the safety of the line insulators. However, while surge arresters reduce the number of flashovers per year, their cost and lifetime must be considered to perform a cost-benefit analysis and provide a guideline for the best protection system configuration. This paper proposes a techno-economic analysis to determine the optimal number and placement of surge arresters in a medium voltage system. Starting from a given surge arrester asset, a lightning performance analysis is carried out to evaluate the annual number of flashovers using a dedicated coupling code. Then, the optimal number and placement of surge arresters is identified by selecting the configuration that provides the maximum economic benefit over the system's estimated lifetime.