The weather forecast says that we are supposed to get lots of lightning tonite so I was wondering do the grid operators and DNO do any special changes or preparations for it?
The preparations are done the day the line route is planned - the protection, such as it is, is in from day one. Both on pylons and on the 11kV system there are arc horns across the insulators, and when they flash over, that line is briefly almost shorted to the tower/ HV ground.
There are automatic arrangements for reconnection if the power is thrown off in this way, but there are normally a limited number of retries - as an endless restart into a fault would be a good idea.
Lines at lower high voltages often have metal oxide surge arrestors at intervals, though as these can fail short circuit, they are often combined with an expulsion fuse type of arrangement to throw it clear if it faults.
Back in the 1980’s when I worked on new housing sites I would frequently sit and have lunch with DNO guys who were also working on site.
The one pair of guys who were based in Worcester had a call in the middle of the night to go over to Herefordshire to restore the supplies to properties that had lost them during a heavy thunderstorm.
They said they got to the top of Fromes Hill on the Worcester to Hereford road from where you can see across to Wales, they said lighting was streaking down and hitting the wire work supporting the bines in the hop yards lighting up the whole fields at a time.
So they parked on the side of the road and brewed a pot of tea then sat and watched the light show having decided there was no way that they were going to go anywhere near a hop yard until the storm was over.
@ mapj the chap in the vid reminds me of my physics and chemistry teachers a long time back ! prepared to melt and blow a few things up on the odd occasion - safely of course ;-)...wonder if teachers do today ! certainly can get your interest in science stuff.
