Power Generation Facilities: Protecting Critical Operations from the Disruptive Impacts of Lightning

Application-specific lightning solutions for protecting utility operations and infrastructure require consultation with experts in integrating and installing the most advanced technologies

Power generation facilities are among the most vulnerable to operational disruptions caused by direct lightning strikes and their secondary effects, due to a combination of their physical structure, operating environment, and critical reliance on sensitive equipment. Even in areas with infrequent thunderstorms, severe lightning events can still occur, leading to catastrophic damage, injury, downtime, fines, and negative impact to corporate reputation.

When this occurs, the financial consequences can be devastating. A single strike can ignite fires, destroy valuable assets, and lead to costly downtime and environmental damage.

This is leading many power generation facilities to adopt lightning defense strategies designed to protect structures, equipment, and personnel. However, with many technological advances since the invention of the Franklin Lightning Rod more than 250 years ago, navigating the maze of potential lightning protection solutions can be daunting.

Lightning defense is a specialized body of knowledge that has accumulated since the days of Ben Franklin. Broadly speaking, lightning defense encompasses two key approaches: lightning protection and lightning avoidance, such as Charge Transfer technologies. Proper grounding and surge protection are also critical.

Due to the wide range of available technologies, mounting an effective defense against lightning-related threats typically requires a tailored strategy that integrates multiple solutions, each having its own specific purpose for minimizing damage or avoiding it altogether. The optimal combination depends on the specific site conditions and the nature of the operation.

To navigate this complexity effectively, it is essential to engage qualified lightning protection experts who can conduct thorough site evaluations, identify and prioritize vulnerabilities, and recommend appropriate protection solutions.

“Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, lightning protection and mitigation recommendations should be tailored to a facility’s unique vulnerabilities, whether that involves direct strike avoidance, secondary damage caused by a nearby strike, or grounding improvements,” says Brian Daugherty, Engineering Sales Manager at Lightning Eliminators & Consultants, Inc. (LEC), a pioneer in the field of lightning protection in since 1971.

According to Daugherty, LEC engineering and sales engineers have a combined over 160 years of experience in lightning protection. Today, LEC’s solutions protect critical operations and structures for some of the world’s most recognized companies, including Federal Express, UPS, Marathon Petroleum, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Telluride Ski Resort, and thousands more.

Vulnerabilities Exposed

According to Daugherty, power generation facilities are particularly vulnerable to lightning strikes due to several interrelated factors. Sites are often located in open areas such as flat plains with elevated structures, which naturally increases their exposure to lightning. Many generation facilities, especially those using fossil fuels, natural gas, or nuclear power, have tall structures such as stacks, turbines, cooling towers, or transmission towers that naturally attract lightning.

Modern generation facilities also rely heavily on sensitive electronics and digital control systems (e.g., SCADA, PLCs, CEMS) that are highly sensitive to transient overvoltages. Even indirect strikes can disrupt or damage these systems.

Since generation facilities operate continuously and are often critical to grid stability, even momentary disruptions can lead to significant operational or safety consequences. Restarting after shutdowns can be a slow and complex process, making lightning-induced outages particularly costly during high-demand periods.

Reputational damage is an often overlooked but impactful risk. Frequent lightning-related disruptions can erode public trust, particularly if service delivery or product quality is compromised.

Even when a direct strike is avoided or successfully mitigated, the residual effects—such as earth currents, atmospheric transients, secondary arcing, electromagnetic pulses (EMP), and ground potential rise (GPR) can severely degrade system components. These secondary effects can result in equipment failure, operational downtime, or even false and erroneous system behavior.

Compounding the challenge, utility demands are expected to rise over the next five years largely because of the growth in electric vehicles, electric heating systems like heat pumps, and the rapid expansion of data centers. Charging stations for electric vehicles, especially high-speed chargers, require large amounts of electricity at once, placing new and heavy demands on local grids. In homes and businesses, electric heat pumps are replacing gas or oil systems, sharply increasing electricity use during heating and cooling seasons. Data centers, which support cloud computing and artificial intelligence, consume massive amounts of continuous power and are being built at a faster pace across many regions.

For these reasons, comprehensive lightning protection systems are critical in safeguarding facilities from structural damage, catastrophic safety incidents, unplanned downtime, and expensive process restarts.

Protecting Facilities

Daugherty says the appropriate combination of solutions can only be determined through a comprehensive evaluation of each facility’s current protection measures, grounding systems, and overall risk exposure.

“Understanding a facility’s past issues, vulnerabilities, and protection goals helps determine whether the solution should focus on grounding enhancements, surge protection, direct strike avoidance, secondary damage from a nearby strike, or a combination of all three,” says Daugherty.

By conducting a thorough site assessment, LEC helps facilities identify vulnerabilities and implement customized mitigation strategies, whether that means improving grounding, adding targeted surge protection, or implementing direct strike mitigation solutions.

Prevention is the Best Defense

According to Daugherty, the most effective defense is to prevent a lightning strike from occurring. This is a far superior solution than a lightning rod-based system that attracts lightning to the protected site and then attempts to manage the strike.

Lightning occurs when the difference in potential between storm clouds and the earth reaches a critical level, triggering an electrical discharge. For lightning to strike, it requires a connection between a downward leader from the cloud and an upward streamer from the ground.

The Dissipation Array System® (DAS®) from LEC is designed to prevent direct lightning strikes within its designated protection area by lowering the electric field to levels below those required for lightning to form.

DAS prevents these connections by using point discharge technology, which neutralizes the charge differential before a strike can occur. Through a system of well-grounded points, DAS facilitates the exchange of ions between the air and the ground, disrupting the conditions necessary for a lightning strike.

DAS can be integrated with a wide range of structures, including buildings, towers, tanks, and stacks. Since its inception, over 3,500 DAS installations have been deployed worldwide, accumulating more than 90,000 system-years of effective performance. Testimonials from industry leaders confirm its effectiveness, with companies reporting significant reductions in downtime, maintenance costs and improved reliability.

LEC even offers a “No-Strike” warranty for all supervised installations, ensuring complete protection when the system is properly maintained and inspected.

The effectiveness of DAS is enhanced when combined with a comprehensive lightning protection system that includes a low-impedance grounding system, transient voltage surge suppression, and modular strike prevention devices. Together, these components ensure optimal protection against both direct strikes and secondary electrical surges.

Expertise in Installation

While the proper combination of component technologies is crucial, having a single source oversee the installation of these systems can also be a key aspect of effective implementation.

Traditional lightning protection methods typically involve engaging separate vendors for system design, material procurement, and installation. This fragmented approach often results in miscommunication, extended project timelines, and increased costs.

“A turnkey provider that consolidates all project phases under a single expert team ensures unified accountability, accelerates execution through streamlined coordination, improves system performance through integrated component design, and lowers overall costs by reducing errors, rework, and inefficiencies caused by misaligned vendor efforts,” says Daugherty.

Considering the increasing risks posed by lightning-related events, power generation facilities cannot afford to rely on outdated or piecemeal lightning protection strategies. As operations become more complex and the consequences of downtime more severe, the need for a site-specific lightning protection strategy is imperative. Technological advancements now offer a range of solutions far beyond traditional methods, but selecting the right combination requires deep expertise and an understanding of each facility’s unique vulnerabilities.

To ensure maximum safety, reliability, and operational continuity, facilities are strongly encouraged to schedule a professional site assessment. A tailored evaluation by qualified experts can uncover hidden risks, assess the effectiveness of existing systems, and guide the implementation of integrated lightning protection strategies. This proactive step not only safeguards critical infrastructure and personnel but also helps prevent costly disruptions and reinforces a facility’s long-term resilience against lightning-related threats.

For more information: call 303-447-2828; email info@lecglobal.com; or complete the Free Lightning Risk Assessment For Critical Operations on the Contact page of the website.