Lightning protection of wind turbines

Lightning damage is the single largest cause of unplanned downtime in wind turbines and the most common insurance claim filed by wind farm owners.

A high risk of lightning strike mostly applies to structures with an average height of more than one hundred meters at flat and elevated locations (onshore), at open waters and directly exposed to lightning (offshore).

With the rapid development of wind turbine installations in high lightning density areas, e.g. in offshore and mountainous regions, lightning protection is becoming more and more important for all stakeholders in wind power industry.

Our offer to you
To minimize risks of downtime caused by lightning strike, DNV verifies lightning protection systems by applying the international standard IEC 61400-24 - Part 24: Lightning protection. According to the standard, DNV examines corresponding components of wind turbines to confirm the proper design of lightning protection system of e.g. blades and the complete wind turbine. This service results in a component certificate for blades, laboratory approval or shop approval or is considered in the type certificate for the wind turbine.

Your benefits
DNV’s verification and certification services support in minimizing cost intensive failures and provide component manufacturers an excellent ticket to trade and a market entry to areas with frequent lightning strikes. We support energy projects worldwide, with highly competent technical experts in over 100 countries.

Our engineers guide manufacturers through different requirements of international standards to achieve performance goals and to meet expectations of the customer. This deep know-how is caused by the fact that we are deeply involved in the development and writing of guidelines and recommended practices.