Lightning Protection & Earthing

Lightning Protection & Earthing: Standardized risk assessment methods for lightning protection conform to complex-structured buildings. This entails that their clauses may be subjectively interpreted when it comes to evaluating structures other than buildings (e.g. large scale Renewable Energy plants). In today’s competitive and dynamic energy markets, it is rather imperative to appraise the economic benefits of installing protection measures in order to reduce the economic loss that may arise when lightning/surge related damages will prohibit delivering the required energy output to the grid. To this extent, the selection of adequate lightning and earthing protection measures should be determined by utilizing methods that are able to assess the risk of equipment damage that may lead in subsequent loss of revenue.

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Technical Consultancy:

  • Holistic Modelling Approach using a mix of methods and software to assess the effectiveness of L.P and earthing systems on complex structures. Through a complete modelling suite and laboratory based testing, we provide the following engineering services:
    • Design of External Lightning Protection System for Large Scale PV applications and Wind Turbines.
    • Assessing the Lightning Performance of Buried Critical Infrastructures (Oil and Gas Pipelines).
    • Design of Appropriate Earthing Systems for Substations
    • Ensure Compliance with Applicable Standards & Regulations

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List of Completed Projects:

  • Reviewing and Optimising PV Earthing Policy and Practice, Electricity Authority of Cyprus (E.A.C), May 2014
  • Investigating the Cause of Metal Wall Fusion of a Natural Gas Pipeline (HGTSO) due to Direct Lightning Strikes, April 2018.

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List of Developed Software Tools:

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Technical Books:

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List of Relevant Peer-Reviewed Publications:

  • C. A. Charalambous, N. Kokkinos, N. Christofides, “External Lightning Protection and Grounding in Large Scale Photovoltaic Applications”, Electromagnetic Compatibility, IEEE Transactions on, vol.56, no.2, pp.427,434, April 2014.
  • N. Kokkinos, A. Dimitriou, C.A. Charalambous, N. Kioupis, T. Manolis, “AC and Transient Risk Assessment for buried Pipelines,” NACE International’s CORROSION Conference & Expo, March 24-28, 2019 Nashville, Tennessee.
  • A. Demetriou and C.A Charalambous, “Interpreting Coating Stress Voltages on Underground Gas Pipelines Due To Lightning Strikes on Adjacent Power Lines”, ICLP 2018, Poland, Sept 2018.
  • A. Demetriou, N. Kokkinos and C.A. Charalambous “Integrating the Loss of Economic Value in Lightning-Related Risk Assessments of Large Scale Photovoltaic Systems Participating in Regulated and Competitive Energy Markets”, ICLP 2016, Estoril Portugal, Oct. 2016.
  • C. A Charalambous, N. Kokkinos, N. Christophides “A Simulation Tool to Assess the Lightning Induced Over-Voltages on dc Cables of Photovoltaic Installations”, 2014 International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP), Shanghai-China, 13-17 October 2014.
  • N. Kokkinos, N. Christophides, C. A Charalambous, “Lightning Protection Practice for Large-Extended Photovoltaic Installations”, 2012 International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP), Vienna, Austria, 2-7th September 2012.
  • N. Kioupis, N. Kokkinos, J. Koutsoubis, I. Cotton, C. Charalambous, ‘’Analysis of induced overvoltages in a natural gas transmission pipeline due to nearby lightning strike’’, Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Lightning Protection, Uppsala, Sweden, 2008, paper number: 3A-11.
  • D. Kokkinos, G. Valirakis, N. Kokkinos, ELEMKO SA, Ch. Charalambous, I. Cotton, University of Manchester, ‘’Lightning Protection of Cable Bridges‘’, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP 2006) , 18-22 Sep. Kanazawa – Japan, paper number: IX-20.

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