 20% of lightening are between cloud and ground.

90% of these are called downward negative

lightening flashes and remaining 10% are downward positive lightning flashes
 Transmission and Distribution class electrical equipment is built to withstand voltage surges.
This withstand strength is called the equipment BIL (Basic Impulse Level).
 The transmission insulators are designed to withstand voltage approximately twice the normal
system voltage. This voltage is rarely exceeded by surges due to switching.
 A voltage surge is always accompanied by a current surge which travels at the same velocity.
The current surge is due to charging and discharging of the line capacitance as the voltage surge
passes.
 A complete flash can take as much as a 1/3 of a second.
 Wave current is approximately two to four amps per kilovolt of surge voltage
 As the capacitors charge, the effect is of a voltage “wave” moving down the line from the
sending to the receiving end. Called a travelling wave.
 Sky wires are made of steel and are solidly grounded to each tower on the line.
 The surge, or lightning, arrestor at a line terminal in a substation is designed to act like a Zener
Diode, clipping the voltage on the line to a set value. This value is set according to the electrical
strength of the equipment in the substation. For 69 kV class equipment, a BIL of 350 kV might be
found.
 Distribution class arresters are sometimes found on exposed lines that have direct connections
to rotating machines.
 Secondary class arrestors cause high voltage coverages to ground, though they do not short all
the over voltage from a surge.
 The higher the ground impedance, the higher the risk of back flash on the insulators”.
 When transmission line arresters are installed on a tower, the importance of the ground is
reduced and can be virtually eliminated. If arresters are installed on all three phases, the value
of the ground becomes insignificant
 The minimum level is known as the Basic Insulation Level (BIL) that must be that of all of the
components of a system.
