Offshore Wind Towers Interaction Through Their Grounding Systems

Abstract

Offshore wind towers may influence each other in the presence of faults or lightning strokes through the grounding system and the leakage currents. These phenomena are investigated by taking into account the non-uniform media surrounding the towers. In particular, simplified (in the quasistatic approximation) analytical expressions for the ground resistance are provided, and their numerical validation is presented, with specific reference to actual types of foundations currently adopted.