Developments in the study of lightning electromagnetic effects with applications to the protection of distribution power lines

In the last twenty years, the widespread use of sensitive electronic devices has increased the interest on transients, in particular those caused by lightning (direct and/or indirect). The paper presents first shortly the developments in modeling the electromagnetic (indirect) effects of lightning achieved in the last 20 years of the 20th century. Then it discusses in more detail two important achievements of the last 2 to 3 years, namely the problem of lightning strikes on tall constructions, like telecommunication towers and the modeling of coupling to shielded cables. These developments permit today to study the reliability of the protection against lightning electromagnetic effects of medium voltage power networks, telecommunication installations and correct the EMC design of very complex configurations like for instance control and protection circuits in power network substations