Analysis of Romania’s Transmission Power Lines Behavior under Direct Lightning Strikes

The high voltage overhead power lines are greatly exposed to direct lightning strikes due to their significant height. In the case of direct lightning strikes in line’s elements (towers, active conductors, and ground wires) or even in the near vicinity of the line, dangerous lightning overvoltage could appear, thus conducting to the line’s insulators flashover, which can cause the line’s disconnection. In this context this paper aims to analyze the behavior of several power transmission lines of Romania’s national power system, when struck by lightning, considering the keraunic level of the areas they are passing through.