Electricity Today T&D Magazine

The rapid shift toward renewable energy resources (RERs) has placed significant demands on traditional power systems. To address these challenges, modern energy infrastructure is evolving into smart grids, leveraging advanced technologies like Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) to enhance grid flexibility, reliability, and efficiency. A VPP is a collection of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as renewable energy sources, battery storage, controllable loads, and electric vehicles (EVs), that operate as a unified power plant through intelligent control and communication networks. By integrating VPPs with smart grids, the energy sector can better coordinate energy generation, storage, and consumption, facilitating a more resilient...

In Canada, lightning flashes occur about 2.34 million times a year; with the highest levels of concentration during the summer months.

While most lightning on earth is ground-to-cloud,  recent research has identified that the majority of lightning events to tall structures, such as wind turbines, occur in the presents of ground-to-cloud leaders – upward lightning.  More importantly, the majority of ground-to-cloud leaders transpire following a sudden change in electric field initiated by either cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-air or cloud-to-ground discharges.

Since the late 1990’s, the utility grade wind turbine sector has identified lightening events as a significant risk factor.  Today, many standards...